KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 — Rafizi Ramli is hopeful the government can provide more clarity on a single window policy for technological startups by August.
The economy minister said the implementation of the single window policy is meant to make it easier for tech startup owners to interact with the relevant agencies through a single interface.
“The timeline is supposed to be by August, but we have to see because I don’t know how many pinpoints there are,” he said, referring to the number of agencies involved in the process.
He said that some of the agencies are not under his ministry, but fall under the purview of the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry headed by Chang Lih Kang, and the Ministry of Communications and Digital led by Fahmi Fadzil.
Rafizi explained that presently, a tech startup owner would not know where to go for help and what assistance is available to them.
He said the agencies were scattered between the three ministries as this was due to policies and legislation.
Rafizi hopes that his ministry is able to hold a meeting with the other two ministries and all relevant agencies in order to map out the roles of each agency to consolidate the information for the implementation of the single window approach.
Besides that, he said his ministry is working with MOSTI minister Chang to simplify and “de-bottleneck” the installation of solar energy technology.
“More and more people will take up solar because it then resolves the other big issue which is the energy security and sustainability issue in the long run,” he said.
However, Rafizi cautioned that if the electricity tariffs remain the same, there would be no motivation for anyone to transition to solar energy.
Earlier, in his speech at the event, Rafizi praised the government’s decision to lift the renewable energy export ban, calling it an essential starting point for making the country a serious player in the renewable energy industry.
Last week, Rafizi announced the removal of Malaysia's ban on trading renewable energy and efforts to move the country towards energy efficiency.
He said the ban, which was imposed a year-and-a-half ago, had stunted job opportunities and economic opportunities locally that could have helped local businesses grow.
