At long last , after a decade of denial, the BN govt says the obvious( see press excerpts from Finance Minister 2 ,Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, at an Economic Conference recently):
- Malaysia's economy has been stagnating for the past decade and is now trailing badly behind its neighbours
- Malaysia economic growth over the last 3 years is the 2nd lowest in comparison to
China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand . - Singapore and Korea's nominal per capita GDP grew within the last three decades by 9 and 12 times respectively against 4 times for Malaysia.
- Malaysia is trapped in a low-value-added, low-wage and low-productivity structure
- Our private investment has been steadily in decline
What needs to be done to put the economy back on track?
According to the Minister , we must emphasise on meritocracy and ensuring all Malaysians are given equal opportunity to participate in the economy and we must gradually dismantle the protectionist policies of specific sectors and industries ,which have introduced a climate of complacency and artificial levels of supply.
Many Malaysians know that these measures are not good enough.There must be good governance,there must be serious effort to address corruption and increase transparency.There must be proper checks and balances and democractic institutions allowed to function freely.
The question is whether the current BN Federal Govt can do this? Its really a tall order especially since many are of the opinion that they are the root cause after 52 years of power.If they can't do it, Malaysia fate is sealed and life will become harder for Malaysians
