Review ETP and NKEA, says corporate leader
It is time for the country to re-look the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and the National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) programmes in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the government plans in actually boosting the country’s economy.
It is time for the country to relook the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and the National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) programmes in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the government plans in actually boosting the country’s economy.
Ernst & Young country managing partner Abdul Rashid Rauf (
left
) said while Malaysia has put in place many plans to boost the economy, it is now time to review these programmes in order to determine how effective they have been over the past four years.
"It is a question of implementing our plans.
"It is probably time to relook and see whether these plans are achieving what they are supposed to achieve,” he said during his presentation at the Perdana Leadership Foundation’s CEO Forum at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur today.
The panellists in the morning session of the forum, however, seemed to agree on one major problem affecting the private sector in the country - a lack of a talent pool with occupational skills.
"We have just not produced enough people with occupational skills.
"We have invested greatly in higher education, but that has only helped create a small class of elites.
"As a result, we are dependent on foreign labour," said David William Berry from the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG), who was also the moderator for the session titled ‘External Challenges to Malaysia's growth’.
“But foreign labour will just work for the biggest dollar. So we need to keep providing the biggest dollar,” he added.
He also said that it was important that Malaysian companies get rid of the bureaucracy that he said has been dogging local companies from fulfilling their potential.
Meanwhile, Petronas chairperson Sidek Hassan said the corporate sector should stop relying on the government’s policies to start performing and competing at an international level.
"It’s not about having the best government, the corporate sector in Malaysia is just not up to par. It is your (corporate sector’s) job, do it. It is your job to compete," he said.
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