Clarity of policies vital to generate confidence in foreign, domestic investors, says PM - video Dailymotion

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Clarity of policies is important to generate confidence in foreign and domestic investors, said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.  The Prime Minister said in his closing remarks at the Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2023 on Tuesday (Oct 3) that he would be more optimistic about the outcome of the future if the government manages the economy with clarity of policies and plans ahead to achieve results while dealing with problems with tenacity.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:11 With all the resources that we have, we do manage the

00:16 economic well, plan ahead, and have the resolve, the

00:24 necessity to deal with these problems with a

00:30 clarity of policies.

00:33 I'm rather more optimistic of the outcome of the future.

00:40 You see, I'm ignoring my text after

00:43 listening to the synopsis.

00:44 I don't want to be deemed completely irrelevant.

00:51 So my central thesis in this government is, number one, to

00:56 acknowledge that we have encountered these difficulties

01:04 due to poor governance and endemic corruption.

01:11 And if we do accept that, then we should be able to have this

01:16 greater sense of confidence to forge ahead, number one, with

01:23 clarity of policies.

01:26 We have the modern economy.

01:29 We have the energy transition, followed by the new

01:35 industrial master plan.

01:37 And even in our mid-term review of the 12th Malaysia plan, we

01:43 have departed from the traditional way or manner of

01:49 reviewing plans, but to make shifts and adjustments

01:53 considering the challenges that we face at present.

01:58 So clarity of policies is important to generate

02:01 confidence.

02:02 I think before you talk about foreign investors or even

02:07 domestic investors, confidence in the general public, because

02:11 there is a trust deficit among not only political leaders,

02:17 but elites in general.

02:19 Policies that have been carved out to benefit the elites at

02:25 the expense of the majority of our population.

02:27 So this shift in governance and the attitude is, to me,

02:32 critical.

02:34 I've always accepted the notion that the resistance to

02:39 change is not necessarily by the poor, uneducated masses.

02:47 Resistance to change, oftentimes, is from the elites.

02:53 I used to know, either through abuse of power and

02:59 position or corruption or just standard practice, to what we

03:06 consider as the necessary changes, either policy shift

03:14 or paradigm shift.

03:15 Even for those among the elites who have been harping on the

03:19 issue of paradigm shift, has not actually moved according

03:24 to what Thomas Kuhn referred to as paradigm shift.

03:27 Because what did happen is some adjustments, minor

03:31 adjustments, IT is an example, on a more sophisticated

03:40 manner of practice in terms of management, both in

03:43 government and in the private sector.

03:45 But what we mean by paradigm shift is to acknowledge the

03:49 limitations of the past and take a new course, policies

03:56 and ways of doing things that is critical to move our

04:01 society.

04:01 It's the same like Schumpeter's gale of creative

04:07 destruction.

04:08 You have to accept that the center cannot hold, things

04:13 fall apart.

04:14 There will be years.

04:16 But things fall apart because of some fundamental flaws in

04:23 the system.

04:25 And therefore, there must be preparedness to shift,

04:31 formulate new policies, and to part from the past manner of

04:42 doing things.

04:43 That's why you talk about gale of creative destruction from

04:49 the past flaws.

04:50 That's why I think in our Madani philosophy, we are

04:57 prepared.

04:57 We have focused on the issue of the need to challenge

05:02 Malaysians generally to accept some stark new realities.

05:08 The race card, religious bigotry, that has been part of

05:16 the nationality for decades has to end.

05:22 And whilst we are proud, and I am too proud as a Malay, my

05:28 culture, my civilization, and as a Muslim, a practicing

05:32 Muslim who believes strongly in the ideals and what Islam has

05:40 to contribute to international society, but it cannot be a

05:49 blinker view of ignoring the importance of the role of

05:56 other races and other religions in this country.

06:00 There's no two way about it.

06:03 There's no compromise in so far as ensuring that this

06:08 country for the future has to deal with policies that will

06:14 deal with fundamental issues and problems in society.

06:20 Poverty, regardless of race.

06:22 The vast majority are the Malays.

06:24 We have to recognize this fact, which means all this

06:30 talk about new economic policy, the focus on the so-called

06:37 Malay survival, whilst has improved in terms of social

06:43 mobility, undeniably so, through education, educational

06:48 opportunities, but has failed miserably because it has been

06:56 used and abused to benefit a small coterie of individuals

07:03 linked to the political elites.

07:05 And this must end.

07:08 So the new policy, for example, has to be courageous

07:12 enough to state the fact that we have to deal with the

07:16 problem of poverty, which means all the new policy

07:21 directions cannot continue whilst ignoring this basic

07:26 fact that you cannot allow Malaysia to succeed and

07:31 continue to grow, robust growth.

07:33 Yes, we need, but it cannot allow for tolerance of abject

07:38 poverty, of gross inequality.

07:42 And naturally, the majority of the Malays would benefit, but

07:47 you cannot ignore the pockets of the poor among the

07:49 indigenous tribes in Sabah, Sarawak, Chinese, the urban

07:54 areas, or more so, the Indians.

07:57 And I've said this publicly, I'm probably the first Malay

08:00 leader that had the courage to say in Parliament that the

08:06 majority of the poor are Malays, but the poorest of the

08:10 poor in the peninsula are the ethnic Indians.

08:14 It is better that we deal with this situation frankly and

08:19 openly and transparently in order to be able to persuade

08:24 the masses to understand why there must be a genuine

08:29 policy shift from what I consider obsolete policies to

08:35 be focused entirely on the issue of race.

08:39 Having said that, if we want government, for example, to

08:43 make that shift, the private sector, including the non-Malays

08:47 must also acknowledge this fact and shift radically from

08:52 this race notion, because the race trend or the race card

08:58 is not necessarily from those in the political arena among

09:05 the Malays, but also from the ethnic non-Malays.

09:08 I've been appealing to them to showcase that while there is

09:12 this shift in government policy, there must be also a

09:16 shift among our friends, colleagues, among the non-Malays

09:21 to be trusted by the majority of the Malays that there is

09:27 no longer this siege mentality or feeling of insecurity

09:32 because of the tendency to ignore the plight of the poor,

09:39 most of the Malays.

09:40 [END PLAYBACK]

Clarity of policies vital to generate confidence in foreign, domestic investors, says PM

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