KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today the government will introduce a new economic model to ensure the country makes a “quantum leap” to become a high-income country.
Addressing a Labour Day rally, the prime minister said the economic model would emphasise innovation, creativity and productivity.
The government’s Economic Council has been given the job of formulating the new model.
“The new economic model is something that we are working for. When the economic council was established, consisting of economy experts including those from abroad, we gave a job scope to the council to recommend one new economic model for our country.
“We also wanted to see how we can move the economy forward from a high middle income to a high income country,” he said.
One of the ways to move the country forward, he said, was to increase the productivity of the workforce through innovation and creativity.
“If we stress on innovation and creativity, we will be able to ensure the standard the production is higher, not only in terms of numbers, but also the quality of the products. When we have reached that stage then we can increase the income of the workforce,” he told reporters.
Najib said his administration would be emphasising the new economic model so that the country could attain a higher level of competitiveness.
The prime minister added that the government would be introducing a retrenchment fund to cushion the effects of the global recession as well as review the Employees Provident Fund.
“I feel that a retirement scheme needs to be considered because a study conducted by EPF shows that 70 per cent of the members finish their funds between three and 10 years.
“We know that the age expectancy in Malaysia has risen from 50 to 55 years before independence to 73 years now. In this regard, the retirement scheme, if introduced, will give security in their old age,” he added.
By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
No comments:
Post a Comment