17 May 2018
KUALA LUMPUR: The new Malaysian government is effective and timely in reforming. The Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) highly affirms and welcomes the reform measures proposed by the new Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his team.
Among all the measures, the MCCC particularly welcomes the new government’s decisive decision in establishing a five-member council of elders to plan a long-term reform within hundred days after coming into power and its effort in setting up another five-member council for institution reform (ISC) to conduct a comprehensive review of government mechanisms, institutional and judicial reform for a fair and just Malaysia.
Even during the transition period between the old and new regimes, the people can feel that the new government is determined to establish a democratic system that complies with the international legal system. The new government is also committed in punishing corruption and keen to establish anti-corruption mechanism.
At the same time, the MCCC positively looks forward to the new government’s reaffirmation of the friendly relationship between Malaysia and China, by stressing it numerous times and publicly announcing its recognition and support for the Belt and Road Initiative of PRC.
We look forward to the appointment of the new Minister of International Trade and Industry as soon as possible. MCCC will, as always, fully cooperate with the other government agencies under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), such as the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) and Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) in revitalising the country’s economic development.
After the new government took office, it brought good news for its people that it would abolish Goods and Services Tax (GST) on 1st June. The MCCC supports this change of policy wholeheartedly. However, our country still faces a challenging economic situation and debt burden. The MCCC calls on the new government to uphold the concept of a pragmatic and rational policy, and make a decision that is conducive to sustainable management. In order to improve the transparency of government administration, the MCCC recommends the government to specify the substitution of the national fiscal revenue after the elimination of GST in the new budget which will be drafted in the second half of the year.
In addition, the MCCC hopes that the succeeding Minister of Tourism and Culture will continue to capitalise on the friendly relations with China to improve further in the infrastructure of tourism, such as implementing efficient processing of visas, opening of direct flights, developing new tourist destinations, training Mandarin-speaking tour guides, establishing Mandarin signage, and introducing Alipay mobile payment services for second and third-tier cities. The market estimates that Malaysia will need to accommodate 4 million Chinese tourists this year and 8 million by 2020.
The regional emerging tourism markets beckon Chinese tourists, so the new government of our country must be quick on the development of the tourism industry and try to maintain the ‘Malaysia, Truly Asia’ charm.
With the increasing public awareness of democracy, the MCCC, which is an independent non-governmental and multi-ethnic business association, looks forward to the new government’s move towards a ‘small government, big society’ policy. This will be more conducive to civil society and private enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and young entrepreneurs in emerging industries.
