KUALA LUMPUR: The Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister’s Department will strengthen economic fundamentals and maintain economic stability by unlocking the potential of productivity at the national, industry and enterprise levels.
In the past, Malaysia’s economic growth were predominantly input-driven, supported by private investments in industry and public investments in infrastructure, utilities as well as schools and hospitals.
In the Eleventh Malaysia Plan (11MP), the EPU said at the national level, the government would formulate a five-year Malaysia Productivity Blueprint, introduce productivity enhancement key performance indicators in the public sector, and encourage up-skilling and re-skilling of employees.
At the industry level, the EPU would appoint productivity champions and customise industry-level productivity programmes while at the enterprise level, it would set up productivity assessments and targets.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak tabled the five-year (2016-2020) 11MP in the Dewan Rakyat today.
The government would also promote investment to spearhead economic growth by taking on a regulatory and facilitative role in increasing private investment.
“This will be done through reducing the cost of doing business, providing performance-based incentives for high-income and knowledge-intensive economic activities, addressing the talent gap and mismatch, as well as improving access to financing for knowledge-intensive industries,” it said.
On increasing exports to improve the trade balance, the EPU said the formation of the National Export Council (NEC) would further stimulate export growth by facilitating cross-ministry policy coordination and implementation.
Gross exports are projected to register stronger growth of 4.6 per cent per annum, with a focus on increasing higher value exports, while gross imports are estimated to expand by 4.8 per cent per annum.
By 2020, the trade balance is projected to remain positive with a surplus of RM57.3 billion.
Meanwhile, the government would strengthen the efficiency of revenue collection through the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax, bringing in about RM31.4 billion revenue per year over the next five years compared with RM15.5 billion through the sales tax and services tax.
– Bernama