RECOGNISING the plight of employees in the tourism and travel-related industry, the Government is extending a helping hand to those from airline companies, given it is one of the economic sectors most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under Budget 2021, the Government will provide training programmes and relocations for 8,000 staff from airline companies in Malaysia with an allocation of RM50 mil.
In the area of job creation, Finance Minister Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said a short-term employment programme MyStep with an allocation of RM700 mil will offer 50,000 contractual job opportunities in the civil service and government-linked companies (GLCs) from January 2021.
“Under this initiative, 35,000 jobs in the civil service will be offered, with a priority given to vacancies such as nurses and medical attendants,” he said when tabling the Budget 2021 at Dewan Rakyat today.
“The government-linked companies (GLCs) will provide 15,000 jobs with a priority on technical and financial fields.”
To ensure the construction sector thrive amid a cutback on development projects, RM2.5 bil will be allocated to Class G1 to G4 contractors to enable them to carry out small and medium projects nationwide.
“This will include RM200 mil for Federal road maintenance and RM50 mil for the maintenance of People’s Housing Programme housing units,” said Tengku Zafrul.
To ensure the readiness of tourist hotspots once the travel ban is lifted, a sum of RM50 mil will be allocated for the maintenance and repairs of tourism facilities all over the country.
Another RM20 mil has also been allocated for improving the infrastructure and spurring the promotion of Cultural Villages in Terengganu, Melaka, Sarawak and Negeri Sembilan.
To encourage the production of local products, the Government has mooted the National Development Scheme (NDS) worth RM1.4 bil to support the implementation of domestic supply chain development and increase the production of local products such as medical equipment.
“(Additionally), RM35 mil will be allocated to promote Malaysian-made goods and services under the trade and investment mission,” noted Tengku Zafrul.
Elsewhere, the Finance Minister said the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil Certification Scheme will be continued with RM20 mil to boost the growth of the country’s palm oil sector. A matching grant of RM30 mil to encourage investments will be introduced.
To spur the property sector, full stamp duty exemption will be given to transfer ownership document and loan agreement for the purchase of a first home worth not more than RM500,000. This exemption will be for the purchase agreement from Jan 2021 to Dec 31, 2025. – Nov 6, 2020
