KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 — Malaysians should support Putrajaya’s efforts to boost the country’s economy, Minister of Economic Affairs Datuk Seri Azmin Ali said today.
He said that the global order of economic powers has shifted as Asian economies take over the previously American and European controlled markets.
In his 2020 New Year’s address, Azmin said the government has started to shift its focus away from traditional markets.
He added that this was in line with the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 which aims to increase Malaysia economic growth and reduce the country’s income gap.
“To cope with the challenges brought about by these giant changes we need to move from old-fashioned thoughts. We must have the courage to think big.
“We need to recognise that the commitment to implement the country's economic restructuring agenda in order to promote the well-being of the people requires the involvement and commitment of all citizens,” he said in a statement today.
Azmin pointed out that Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad initiated this shift in focus by organising the recent Kuala Lumpur (KL) Summit 2019 which opened the way for collective economic and technological cooperation between Islamic nations.
“We need to explore various strategic partnerships globally to address the effects of the trade war between China and the United States. The trade war shows how America itself has neglected one of the major aspects of world order it advocates.
“This strategic partnership is crucial as Malaysia adopts an open economy. However, Malaysia needs to strengthen its domestic economic fundamentals so that we have systemic resilience (to prosper),” he said.
Last week, Azmin announced that the government will push for a realignment of the country’s economy over the next 10 years as the old economic model of manufacturing, commodity and labour-intensive operations is seen to hamper future growth.
He said that the country has for decades been dependent on manufacturing from investment abroad, which created jobs but had failed to push for innovation and development of our own homegrown products, which in turn stifled salary growth and high-paying jobs.
