THE Government should brainstorm ideas on how to use local resources to create jobs for Malaysians instead of relying too much on the “pre-historic” foreign-direct investments (FDI) module.
“When will we ever come to the realisation that times have changed? Malaysia no longer has the low-wage advantage it had decades ago. Every other Asean nation is beating us in the economic game.
“We need to start utilising local resources to create jobs, especially for our youths,” said Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) central committee member Sharan Raj told FocusM.
Recently, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced the formation of the National Employment Council (NEC) in an attempt to create 500,000 jobs.
Among the ideas being mooted in the council was to offer more tax breaks to foreign investors to set up businesses here.
However, Umno deputy youth chief Shahril Hamdan urged the NEC to get creative as Malaysia has lost much of its competitive edge it had in the past, such as low-wage workers.
Making his case, Sharan said that due to the global economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many multi-national companies (MNC) have scaled back investments due to lack of demand.
“Just look at the statistics. There is a deficit in consumption such as car sales, property purchases and others.
“So, you can give all the tax breaks and incentives you want, MNC’s will still adapt a wait-and-see approach due to uncertainty in demand,” he said.
Three solutions to create new jobs
The PSM leader then offered three proposals on how to generate at least 30,000 in the near future.
One idea, Sharan said was for the Government to embark on a national policy to allow the unemployed to cultivate abandoned land for agriculture purposes.
He said that based on 2014 statistics, Malaysia has nearly 200,000 hectares of unused land that can be used for agriculture purposes.
“The problem is they lack capital and face much red tapes from authorities to embark on such programme.
“So, we may need to come up with another Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) like scheme to help the process.
“We can allow interested individuals, especially our youths, to cultivate 10 hectares of land for 25 years without any up-front fees or capital,” he said.
Sharan added that there must be an effective coordination between federal, state and local authorities to ensure no “middle-man” comes in between the process.
“And the land should be awarded to anyone who meets the stipulated criteria, without any prejudice.
“If we embark on such a scheme, not only we will create job opportunities and create new entrepreneurs, we will also reduce food imports in the long run,” he opined.
On the second idea, Sharan urged the Government to use the RM12 bil savings from fuel subsidies, between 2020 and 2021, to develop the public transportation system.
Using the money, he said that the Government could purchase at least 13,300 electric buses and scatter them across Malaysia.
“The project can easily create about 14,000 news jobs such as bus drivers, transport planners, supervisors and managers,” added Sharan.
On the third idea, Sharan called for the Government to step up efforts to develop green technology by promoting the use of the Energy Performance Contract (EPC).
“EPC can be used to improve energy efficiency of Government premises, creating new construction jobs and ramp up demand for construction materials.
“And the Government doesn’t need to fork anything up-front but pays contractors from the monthly electricity savings,” Sharan added. – Dec 19, 2020
