KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin today said that the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) was not much of a change from the previous five-year plans.
“What we see here is similar to the Ninth Malaysia Plan, which is that the private sector has to take over from the public sector in spurring the economy.”
“The only difference here is in our affirmative action (programme). Right now, the government is adopting a reformist school of action where we recognise the need to restructure society and that old policies are simply not workable anymore for the Bumiputera community and Malaysia in general,” he said.
Khairy was speaking at a forum on the 10MP at University College Sedaya International here. With him were PJ Utara MP Tony Pua, and CEO of IDEAS, a think-tank, Wan Saiful Wan Jan.
Khairy seemed optimistic that the 10MP is an innovative blueprint that can lead the country forward.
He said the 30% Bumiputera equity is simply not workable anymore in today’s day and age.
“The 30% policy is just there for comfort. With the 10MP, we believe in a merit-based, market-friendly and fair system. You will see a real sustainable and competitive Bumiputera community from this plan,” he added.
Under the 10MP, the target of achieving at least 30% Bumiputera corporate equity ownership at macro level will be maintained.
The focus, however, will be on promoting genuine economic participation, consistent with the objective of sustainable high growth rather than corporate equity allocation.
It is reported that the Bumiputera median household income of RM2,531 in 2009 is lower than the national median income of RM2,830 and Bumipuetra ownership of share capital (at par value) of limited companies had increased marginally from 18.9% in 2004 to 21.9% in 2008.
Khairy said the 10MP aims to help the bottom 40% regardless of ethnicity.
While he agrees that part of this affirmative action plan would allow the better-connected and educated Bumiputera to benefit substantially more than others, Khairy said the 10MP is different in that it is innovative and strives to be transparent.
“It’s all about helping the country survive and for us to be competitive.”
High-income society
Pua, who concurred with Khairy, said there is no problem giving the Bumiputera 30% of the wealth as they make up 60% of the population.
“It does not mean that when the Malays become richer, other races become poorer.”
“However, it changes the dynamics of the affirmative action programme. When you go by race, those who are better- connected and better-educated will get more benefits from this programme; thus not all of society would be helped,” Pua said.
Khairy said that while the private sector contributed to 2% growth on average in the past five years, the target of a 13% growth set in the 10MP is quite difficult to achieve.
“With such a plan, you start thinking where is this growth coming from. Of course, there are property development projects in Sungai Buloh, Sungai Besi, and the financial district in Jalan Tun Razak.”
“The problem here is that they are all property developments. Who's going to buy them and where is the demand going to come from?”
Khairy proposed that a high-income society, driven by productivity and innovation, be created first before the government ventures into property development.
“If we are really interested in spurring private sector, we must invest in a value chain, which drives innovation. This is clear in the 10MP where the government intends to give incentives to companies which invest in people.”
On Talent Corporation, a government-linked company formed recently to attract Malaysian graduates residing overseas, Khairy said, “The problem with attracting them back has nothing to do with the lack of incentives; instead it's because of the structural problems they will face when they return home.”
“There is a wall of bureaucracy and red tape they will have to encounter,” he added.
Khairy cited the “Returning Scientist” programme implemented in the 1990s where many of the talents recruited had difficulties in adapting to the local working environment.
Khairy, who said that previous five-year plans have failed to live up to expectations, believed that the problem lay in the details and executing them.
“The key feature in the 10MP is that it’s now result-based rather than input-based. Key Performance Indicators have to be met and we realise the importance of getting value for money.”
“In short, the prime minister wants us to go up the value chain and become a high-income nation: an economy driven by innovation where people are less dependent on subsidies,” Khairy said.
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