Strategic package to drive economy: Malaysia

THE government may implement a so-called "strategic package" to drive the economy and woo foreign investors, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Senator Tan Sri Amirsham A. Aziz.

"It's still very much in a discussion stage. We are talking to various ministries on the implementation... As soon as we clear that, we'll be making some announcements," said Amirsham, who is also the head of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU).

The package, unlike the RM7 billion stimulus which focuses on boosting the economy over the short term, will address issues to help grow the country over a longer period.

The measures include new policies to make the country's economy more competitive as well as improving the investment process for foreign investors.

"It's not so much of a stimulus package ... It's more like a strategic package.

"Some of it involves making the various sectors more liberal in attracting foreign investment, and we're looking at improvements of the delivery system.

"I don't want to announce which sectors. But typically, we're looking at services as key to driving the future of the economy," Amirsham told reporters on the sidelines of an EPU briefing in Putrajaya yesterday.

Meanwhile, the EPU said it will closely look into whether the country needs another "stimulus package" next year.

"Right now, we think that the world economy is evolving quite dramatically. We'll see from there whether we need or do not need another stimulus package.

"We think that the RM7 billion that we've talked about earlier should be able to take us through for a while."

The government announced last month that it would pump RM7 billion into the economy next year so that the country would not sink into a recession.

The country is expected to post 3.5 per cent growth next year.

Business Times- Goh Thean Eu and Azlan Abu Bakar