By Patrick Lee
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is aware of its drop in economic investment appeal and is working to get it up again, says CIMB Group CEO Nazir Tun Razak.
According to a recent report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Malaysia's position in investment appeal has dropped from a comfortable 17th position to a much lower 42nd.
One of the reasons attributed to this slump in rankings was the country's lack of institutional reform.
“The government has acknowledged the need for substantial reform,” Nazir said, adding that the matter was known to the government.
He said this at a press conference after the Institute of International Finance's (IIF) annual meeting of chief executive officers of active Asian financial institutions.
“The plans to (solve these) issues (of the lack of reform) are being laid out,” he said. “The next phase is to execute them.”
DAP Klang MP and economist Charles Santiago had previously criticised the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) for not using any of the suggestions laid out by the WEF report.
When asked if the ETP was too infrastructure-project-centric, Nazir said, “We must look at the ETP not (just) in terms of the projects (such as) the entry point projects (EPP).”
He said that it was also important for people to focus on the Strategic Reform Initiatives (SRIs) that have been outlined by the government.
The SRIs are a set of eight objectives designed by the National Economic Advisory Council to push forward the New Economic Model as well as the 12 National Key Economic Areas.
These objectives include reducing Malaysia's dependency on foreign labour, implementing market-friendly affirmative action as well as creating a competitive domestic economy.
