Economic Action Council Should Deliver Results Fast

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The formation of the new Economic Action Council by the government will be welcomed by all Malaysians who want progress. It’s timely, given the world economic slowdown, and the growing restiveness amongst Malaysians about our socio-economic wellbeing and future

The EAC members are outstanding and will have the full support of the rakyat to deliver results fast
1. Main EAC aimsIndeed, to quote the Prime Minister’s Office: “The main aim of the EAC, is to encourage and stimulate sustainable economic growth, equitable distribution of wealth and further enhance the wellbeing of the people. The EAC will also look into issues relating to the cost of living, employment, poverty and home ownership”
We congratulate the government for this ambitious EAC plan which appears to be a major review of our socio-economic planning and is therefore most welcome
The public will be encouraged and excited by the EAC aims. But hopefully the government will exert its full political will, to deliver action fast on the EAC aims. Otherwise, public expectations would rise for now but then fall quickly, as disappointment will set in and the national mood and happiness will decline
This will be unfortunate and counterproductive to the good efforts by the EAC. Hence, how can we ensure good outcomes for the Malaysian society
2. How can socio-economic issues be addressed by the EAC?Firstly, to achieve the EAC aim of stimulating sustainable growth, there have to be new policies and incentives to encourage both domestic and foreign private investment
This will call for more encouragement towards the private sector to invest, with reduced protection to local industries and a smaller role for government involvement in business. The government-linked companies, for example, have to play a lesser role in the economy
Foreign investors have to also be fully consulted and allowed more liberal access to our markets to invest in them
However, all these new investments must be subject to more stringent sustainable development environmental policies and guidelines. At least we then can be able to attract better quality investment that will not damage the economy and cost us much more to clean up the environment in the future
Secondly, equitable distribution of wealth is another laudable goal of the EAC. It is no point going all out for economic growth when the income gap or Gini coefficient worsens in our country. The rakyat will rightly ask - why have economic growth for mainly the elite class to benefit from? This question can raise and reflect a lot of social uneasiness and even social unrest
To attain this goal of equitable wealth distribution, we can widen the welfare grants and safety net, to the poor, provide more basic needs like housing and health, transport, et cetera for the poor. To meet these additional public expenditures, we can raise more taxes from the top 20 percent of our income earners to provide more facilities for the poor. But how much can we do
Given our budget deficits and the high national debt, can our five-year plans and constrained annual budgets finance these higher expenditures? How much more can we do to finance the equitable distribution of wealth and close the wealth gaps
One easy but questionable way to improve wealth distribution is to nationalise some of our assets and then redistribute wealth. But this is a risky philosophy and a unprecedented and dangerous action to take. We will then frighten investments away and Malaysia can become isolated
So even just talking about “equitable distribution of wealth” can be alarming and disconcerting . Hence if we want to pursue this topic, we will have to plan very carefully
Perhaps, the most acceptable path to better wealth distribution would be through the provision of better education and training facilities for technical and vocational studies . This would enable our graduates from schools and universities which have generally low international ratings to get better paid jobs and thus narrow the wide income gaps in our society
3. Enhancing people's wellbeingTo enhance the wellbeing of the people, we have to shift our emphasis on economic and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and move towards a Happiness Index to measure our wellbeing
We need to find out what makes the rakyat happier. Here again, it’s the provision of more of their basic needs and stronger efforts necessary to reduce cost of living
Then we go back to wiping out corruption, improving governance, cutting wastage of public funds, and developing moderate lifestyles. Efficiencies and a culture of meritocracy and competition should be encouraged more by the EAC in all its new policies
ConclusionThe EAC gives us all new hope for a better future. But the EAC will have to deliver fast. At least please go for the low-lying fruits. Help the poorest of the poor first and do it fast please
The farmers, the fishermen, the rising urban poor and those in isolated kampungs and estates and new villages, should get the priority attention of the EAC
Then the EAC will win more credibility and support for its noble aspirations
We all wish the EAC under the strong leadership of our Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad every success, to deliver EAC action fast, so we can be a happier and more content nation
RAMON NAVARATNAM is chairperson for the Asli Center for Public Policy Studies. - Mkini

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