Mustapa: No preferential treatment for Chinese firm
Caretaker international trade and industry minister Mustapa Mohamed has come out in defence of the goods and services tax (GST) relief granted to a Chinese firm in its procurement of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL).
In a report by The Star, Mustapa said the government had not accorded any preferential treatment when it gave China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) the tax relief, as many government projects also enjoyed a similar benefit...
Caretaker international trade and industry minister Mustapa Mohamed has come out in defence of the goods and services tax (GST) relief granted to a Chinese firm in its procurement of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL).
In a report by The Star, Mustapa said the government had not accorded any preferential treatment when it gave China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) the tax relief, as many government projects also enjoyed a similar benefit.
The caretaker minister, however, did not follow up his statement with examples of such government projects that have been granted GST relief.
Instead, he opined that claims of special treatment were made just to confuse the public.
"In fact, a few government projects have been given GST relief.
"It is the government's policy that certain projects will be given GST relief, not just projects from China," he was quoted saying during a press conference.
On Monday, Amanah vice-president Husam Musa had disclosed documents revealing the GST relief granted to CCCC including a certificate which stated the move was granted under Section 56(3)(a) of Goods and Services Tax Act 2014 which concerns the finance minister's power to grant GST relief.
This was later confirmed by Customs director-general Subromaniam Tholasy, who stated the measure was taken to reduce the ECRL implementation costs.
GST are conducting raid nationwide oppressing small medium enterprises (SME) but here China companies are given GST exemption? Wtf cannot vote BeND in GE14! Siapa yang gadaikan Tanah Melayu? Siapa yang BANGSATKAN negara?
Why wasn’t this announced & made public before you award this high cost project BTW these few contracts given GST exemption are these contractors selected by you & not thru competitive bidding
Let's face it. There is no doubt over what the Chinese could do, as proven in many other markets. They are now king of infrastructures. Their factory of the world has churn out billions of products from anything that moves to edible products. Question is not on what they could do but what hidden deals they had done, given the reputation of China as less strict on governance and controls. The G to G relations are never transparent beyond the MOU. The self serving politicians are least trusted having left behind trails of financial damage. It's not their money anyway. That's why the people need to know.
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