FECAM-Youth urges government to solve internal and external economic's problem

The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia Youth Section (FECAM-Youth) urge Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib to address the problems faced by Malaysia in the economy sector and hope that the government could introduce strategies to improve the investment environment in Malaysia, besides helping SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) in their transformation problems.


The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia Youth Section Chief (FCAM-Youth) Hii Yik Ping issued a statement today, saying that the country's economy is becoming worse and the government must implement mechanism to handle this crisis immediately. This is to ensure that local investors will not lose faith in the government.

According to UBS Securities Asia Limited report, it says that in 2009, Malaysia experienced the biggest foreign exchange reserve losses among Asian countries and our official reserves fell by more than one-quarter. In addition, official figures show that approved investment for the first nine months of last year totaled RM19.1 billion, of which RM12.2 billion was foreign direct investment. That is a far cry from the RM62.8 billion of approved investments in the previous year, with just over RM46 billion in the form of foreign capital.

At the same time, recent media reports showed that many of Malaysia's top business tycoons are moving out of the economy. Asia’s richest businessman and Malaysia’s top corporate figure Robert Kuok sold off his long-established interests in the sugar importing and refining business. Save for his Shangri-La hotels nationwide, Kuok has little visible business interests left in Malaysia. Meanwhile, casino operator Genting, engineering and property group YTL, and the telecommunications and multimedia holdings controlled by tycoon Ananda Krishnan have been restructuring their respective corporations in recent months. They want to channel financial resources generated locally to finance overseas expansion plans.

Therefore, Hii Yik Ping feels that Najib’s immediate challenge is to recreate an environment that will encourage investment and convince the investors.

Apart from severe capital outflow, Malaysia also suffers from domestic issues such as the arson attacks on houses of worship and two missing Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) F-5E jet engines. All these will weigh heavily on the investors' plans for future investments in Malaysia. Even Malaysia's number one trading partner, The United States, had expressed concern on both issues for more than once.

“Hence, Najib, as Finance Minister, should take immediate actions to solve the issue in a convincing and transparent manner, to regain the confidence of investors towards our government.” Hii Yik Ping said in his statement.

Besides that, the government should focus on solving problems that are harmful to the investment environment, for instance, corruption, public infrastructure and economy management because these are the reasons foreign investments are leaving the country.

Meanwhile, the country’s export-led economic model is sputtering because of weak global demand, while higher labour costs are forcing companies to consider other investment locations.

The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia Youth Section (FCAM-Youth) is in an opinion that the government should find ways to develop other potential industries such as SME, servicing industry, manufacturing industry and electronic industry. The government can bring down the tax and provide more low-interest financing plan to help the potential industries to grow.

Lastly, The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia Youth Section Chief Hii Yik Ping strongly suggests the government to open up more high income businesses sector and at the same time improve local investments, rather than over depending on the revenue from petroleum and foreign investment which is not sustainable in the long run.

华总青促政府解决国家经济的内忧外患

马来西亚中华大会堂总会青年团（华总青）呼吁首相拿督斯理纳吉正视我国经济正面对内忧外患的局面，并希望政府能够拟定策略来改善国内投资环境与积极处理中小型企业转型问题。


华总青总团长许益品今天发文告表示，我国经济已达致一个让人感到担忧的情况，政府不应该坐视不理，应该马上进行危机处理机制，以便能够稳定国内投资者对政府的信心。

他表示，根据最新的瑞士联合银行证券行（UBS Securities）的报告显示，马来西亚是2009年亚洲国家当中，外汇储备金损失最惨重的国家。而大马的官方资金储备已经下降超过四分之一。

此外，财政部官方数据更显示，去年首九个月被批准的投资为191亿令吉，其中122亿令吉是外来直接投资。这与前年的数据相距甚远，因为前年被批准的投资有约628亿令吉，其中460亿是外来投资。

同时，媒体也在近期内陆续报导我国企业钜子，包括云顶集团、YTL集团以及掌控大马通讯及娱乐业的阿南德克里希南（Ananda Krishnan）逐渐将投资重点转移到国外，把财政资源输送到外国开拓海外企业的消息。

依据以上所发生地种种状况确实让人感到非常忧虑，所以华总青认为，纳吉目前首要挑战就是要营造一个有利于投资者的环境与恢复国内外投资者对政府的信心。

国内最近也发生了种种让外资与国内企业而感到担心的问题，其中包括“阿拉”字眼议题以及战斗机引擎失窃等，而作为大马首要贸易伙伴的美国政府更是不止一次对这两件事情表示关注。

因此，许益品表示，也是财政部长的纳吉有必要以透明与具说服力的手法来处理这些案件，以便得到投资者对政府处理危机与稳定局势的信心。

此外，政府也应该专注各种不利投资环境议题，包括贪污问题、公共交通系统问题、经济管理问题等等，而这些都是导致外国投资者另谋出路，将钱投资在其他地方的重要导因。

然而，大马经济一直以来都过度依赖石油收入，但随着全球需求量降低与石油税逐渐下降后，导致原本蓬勃发展的基本设施发展计划，因为市场萎缩而开始干涸，而价位偏高的大马劳工情况更是在其他国家崛起的当儿，让大马流失了不少国内外投资者。

华总青认为，我国政府长久以来过度依赖石油收入来发展国家经济，而其他的具发展潜力行业，例如制造业、服务业、电子业与中小型工业等等，却没有受到政府的重视。

所以，华总青建议政府应该在通过各种管道，包括降低该行业税收、提供低息融资计划等来协助该名具潜能行业来进行发展计划，让他们能够从目前的中小型企业提升为大型企业，从而让积极化我国的经济活动，带动国家发展。

最后，华总青总团长许益品表示，大马作为一个迈向先进国的发展型国家，应该积极开发更多的高收入企业，并且要尽一切努力提高更多大企业的国内投资，而这个方式相比于长期依赖外来投资活动与石油收入来得更具长远性。