Malaysia to develop new economic model

Published: 2009/05/02

The government is making efforts to develop a new economic model for Malaysia which among others will emphasise raising the workers' productivity to help them earn higher incomes, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Najib said the scope of work for this new economic model would be handled by an economic council that would be set up, which would comprise economic experts from Malaysia and abroad.

He said the model would also outline how Malaysia can further improve its economic situation from the high middle income level now to the high income level.

According to the prime minister, increase in workers' productivity should not only be through more hours worked but also through innovation and creativity.





"If we stress this, we will be able to raise the productivity level not incrementally but by a quantum leap.

"And when we can achieve this, naturally workers can be paid much higher," he told reporters after delivering a special message at the national-level 2009 Workers Day gathering at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur today.

Najib said this when asked to elaborate on his message at the gathering which among others touched on a new economic model, fund for retrenched workers and efforts to improve the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) scheme.

"This is the model I am stressing. A new economic model beneficial to workers and the nation can attain a higher level of competitiveness.

"We will not allow the country to remain as it is but find ways to achieve a quantum leap so that we can be in the high income bracket. This is the government's goal and together (government and the people) we must make the effort to translate it into a reality," he said. - Bernama