KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 ― The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) hopes the extension of the Reinvestment Allowance, which expires in 2019, will be addressed in the Budget 2019 as it was not considered for 2018.

In a statement, the FMM said the budget could have also included a few other items on its wishlist, including corporate tax reduction.

"The manufacturing sector is of the view that reducing the rates would make Malaysia competitive, when compared to neighbouring countries such as Hong Kong, which has a corporate tax rate of 17 per cent, Singapore (18 per cent), Thailand (20 per cent) and Vietnam (20 per cent),” it added.

The FMM said while Thrust 7 emphasised the efficiency of public service delivery which is good,  the government should have made Good Regulatory Practices (GRP) mandatory across-the-board as part of it.

The GRP will further improve efficiency, leading to the lowering of costs of doing business, it said.

However, the Federation commended the Government for tabling a very broad-based budget, covering practically all economic sectors, as well as all segments of the population.

"The manufacturing sector in particular is pleased that a lot of emphasis had been given to industry, trade, Industry 4.0, the digital economy, education and training.

"It is also reassuring to note that the government has kept the budget deficit to three per cent and has committed to further reduce it to 2.8 per cent in next year’s budget,” it added. ― Bernama