The open day of the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) today, showcasing the results of the 12 labs on the National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs), attracted a bigger-than-expected crowd eager to know what the ETP holds for the private sector and how the government is actually going to execute the programme. ETP, which is part of the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) under the 10th Malaysia Plan, is the first detailed programme by the government designed to "make Malaysia a high-income nation which will benefit everyone and benefit for a long time". lthough only about 3,000 visitors were expected, the organisers were taken by surprise when the numbers swelled to almost 8,000 at one time. Datuk Seri Idris Jala, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and the chief executive officer (CEO) of Pemandu, who leads the ETP, said in his welcoming speech he is confident of its success as GTP managed to yield successful results in the last eight months. The exhibition showcased the 12 labs:
* tourism,
* education,
* wholesale and retail,
* Greater KL,
* oil, gas and energy,
* palm oil,
* healthcare,
* agriculture,
* business services,
* communications content and infrastructure,
* electrical and electronics, and
* financial services.
There were 45-minute breakout sessions on the topics in small seminar rooms packed to the brim with almost no standing room. Grouses were voiced by the private sector on the difficulties of expanding their businesses and industry. The most popular event of the day was the forum by the CEOs which saw an exchange of views by captains of industy such as Datuk Nazir Razak of CIMB, and Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes of AirAsia. The NKEA labs identified potential incremental gross national income (GNI) impact of about US$250 billion (RM775.62 billion) by 2020 and will kickstart 131 entry point projects and 60 business opportunities. Jala said this will create an additional 3.3 million jobs. Forty-six percent of these jobs will require vocational and technical skills. Jala had the crowd, made up of business owners and top management from the private sector as well as SMI and SME owners, applauding and asking for more as he quoted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak as saying the ETP will definitely be a success as "Malaysia is big enough for all of us".
Jala said the main plan is for more investment attraction and slashing of expenditure on the part of the government. Jala said the government is looking at subsidy rationalisation "although (this is) not popular", adding that the feedback from the people is that it can be done but it should be done gradually and in small doses. He also said the Malaysian economy is on the right track with the ringgit being at its strongest for the first time in 13 years. In addition, the recovery rate of the economy has been very good due to the stimulus packages the government has introduced. He added that in the first half of this year, Malaysia economy grew at 9%. He said he is confident the private sector will come in with the "hundreds of billions of ringgit" needed to spur the ETP as the projects under the programme were the ideas from the private sector itself, which they had come up with during the labs they had in May. "The private sector is fully behind this as they are the ones who came up with the projects," he said. At a press conference later, Jala said many of the entry point projects (projects introduced for the first time) will focus on the rural area and there is little possibility of these projects being taken up by opportunists. He cited the 1Malaysia Mall project, which plans to bring the Malaysian expertise of building shopping malls abroad and, at the same time, bring some of the Malaysian retailers to park themselves there.
He also gave the example of the Malaysian creation of "cantas", a curved knife used to pick oil palm fruit, which now costs RM5,000 but can be made to cost RM2,500 as an entry point project, "which will help many smallholders". On the creation of a level playing field, Jala said that much still has to be done. He said the projects would be monitored by steering committees, which are led by the prime minister at the top level, and the lead ministers at the second level. "Then there are the monthly reports which we will prepare, and the problem-solving meetings," he said. He said all the NKEAs are placed on the same priority level and, if necessary, the NKEA that outputs the higher GNI will take priority. He admitted that some of the plans, such as the Talent Corporation, have yet to take off but said the corporation is under way.
Jala, who has been running the whole show, downplayed his role when asked whether he realises that he is holding the GTP and ETP together. Jala said that this is the brainchild of the prime minister and his job in Pemandu is to get a lot of people together. Asked how the ETP would be implemented when 80% of the local workforce are only high school educated, he said that when there are gaps, they will fill them with expatriates.
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