OVER the last decade, the Malaysian economy has been seen to be slower than many other Asian countries indicating that economic growth has yet to reach its full potential.
The data, which has been reported in the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 (SPV2030) document has also been echoed by Statista 2020, in their report comparing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Asean countries from 2010 to 2020.
There are an abundant of economic activities happening in Malaysia. The varieties, however, have slowed down the growth of the economy in the country as there is no focus on pushing the economic activities to reach their full potential.
Malaysia at this moment has a high reliance on commodity-based exports. Industries in Malaysia as well have been clustered in the low value-added category due to the low adoption of high technology.
These, are amongst the key contributors of the low compensation of employees (CE) to GDP in Malaysia, directly affecting the following:
1. The number of high value-added jobs available in Malaysia.
2. The number of skilled workers in the Malaysian labour market is still dominated by 72.8 per cent semi and low skilled workers, as most of the industries are still operating in conventional ways.
3. The excessive influx of foreign labour, as the country's economic activities, are labour-intensive. This situation impacts wages, unemployment, and living standards of native low-skilled workers, as foreign labour is cheaper and they are willing to work extra hours with low pay.
Understanding the urgency to mitigate the situation, the government has introduced the Key Economic Growth Activities (KEGAs) through SPV2030 to boost the economy and social movements for Malaysia to achieve high-tech and high-income nation status, latest by 2030.
15 KEGAs introduced in the SPV 2030 launched on Oct 5, 2019 include - Islamic finance, digital hub, 4th industrial revolution, content industry, Asean hub, halal food hub, commodities, logistics transportation and sustainable mobility, coastal and maritime economy, centres of excellence, renewable energy, green economy, smart and high value agriculture, advance and modern services and Tourism Malaysia, Truly Asia.
The KEGAs will not be ignoring the development of existing economic activities such as oil and gas, manufacturing, electrical and electronic goods, and other services.
It is introduced to uplift the current economic activities with advanced solutions, as well as to push forward a few other activities that are believed to be able to expedite the growth of the Malaysian economy, within these 10 years.
The development of new economic activities as well will continuously be nurtured, for the future of the country.
The introduction of KEGAs is aimed for the country to:
a. Have a smaller and more focused scope to stimulate the country's economy, so that the target of making Malaysia a high-income country, and a major Asean industry hub, is successfully achieved by 2030.
b. Focus on adding value to the key activities and ensuring maximum potential is achieved.
c. Focus on high-value-added products and services.
The rakyat would benefit directly from the successful implementation of KEGAs and their spillover effects, such as higher value-added job creations, better CE in every employment, as well as the reduction of opportunities for low-skilled foreign labour in the country which only creates competition and risks to the rakyat.
The writer is Senior Research Analyst, Institut Masa Depan Malaysia (Institut MASA)