13-9-2023

Selamat petang, Salam sejahtera dan Salam Malaysia Madani kepada semua Hadirin yang berbahagia,

Saya bagi pihak Gabungan Dewan Perniagaan dan Perindustrian Cina Malaysia (ACCCIM) rasa amat berbesar hati dan mengucapkan setinggi – tinggi penghargaan di atas kesudian Yang Berhormat Rafizi Ramli, Menteri Ekonomi, untuk menghadiri ACCCIM Power Chat dan pelancaran rasmi Konvensyen Usahawan Cina Sedunia (WCEC) ke-17.

Semoga kehadiran Yang Berhormat Menteri Rafizi dalam Powerchat ini akan memperbaiki pemahaman kita tentang Ekonomi Madani, Pelan Hala Tuju Peralihan Tenaga Negara, Kajian Separuh Penggal Rancangan Malaysia Kedua Belas dan isu-isu ekonomi semasa. Seterusnya izinkan saya berucap dalam Bahasa Inggeris.

It is a privilege to have Yang Berhormat Menteri Rafizi Ramli as our guest speaker for ACCCIM Power Chat. This will be followed by the official launching of the 17th World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention (WCEC), which will be held at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) on 9th to 11th September 2024.

Malaysians have recently celebrated our country’s 66th Hari Kemerdekaan with the theme ‘Malaysia MADANI: Tekad Perpaduan Penuhi Harapan’. The theme clearly emphasizes the importance of unity and patriotism to realise our vision for Rebuilding a Better Malaysia for all Malaysians.

In the face of multifaceted economic forces and challenges, the road ahead will be challenging but also exciting for Malaysians and businesses. We need to identify new opportunities and build new engines of growth for Malaysia’s next economic take-off.

ACCCIM stands ready to support the Ekonomi Madani framework to build a sustainable, inclusive and competitive economy; the National Energy Transition Roadmap for transitioning to a low carbon future and New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) 2030 for catalysing a new generation of industrial transformation in green industrial age. The 12th Malaysia Plan has more than two years to go. We are looking forward to the tabling of 2024 Budget on 13 October.

Without doubt, the government’s policies and regulations play a crucial in shaping overall business and investment ecosystem. Businesses and investors want a system of government that functions efficiently as well as the provision of quality public delivery services, without choking off enterprise and enables private sector to flourish. Hence, we must also double down on our efforts to innovate, restructure and tech up business models.

Forming a cordial and clean relationship between Federal government, state, local authorities and business through engagements and consultations is of great significance to advancing shared economic prosperity. The 3 Cs (Clarity, Consistency and Certainty) are important for businesses.

On this note, we thank Yang Berhormat Menteri Rafizi’s efforts for making PEMUDAH an effective platform to ease the regulatory constraints, as well as cost of doing business.

Our workforce must also future-proof and have a fair wage compensation, matching with the performance and productivity improvement. Deepen the hard and soft skills, widen skillsets, and remain agile to seize the opportunities are necessary.

I am sure all of us are looking forward to a cordial and exciting fire chat with Yang Berhormat Menteri Rafizi later to discuss the prospects and challenges for Malaysia’s next take off.

Before that, I will briefly touch on the 17th World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention (WCEC) themed “Reimagineering The Future” 擘划新序, 共创新局, which will be held at KLCC on 9th to 11th September 2024, a countdown of 363 days from today. ACCCIM is indeed honoured to host this convention for the second time, where the last time was 20 years ago in 2003.

ACCCIM has promised the best WCEC ever, with solid supports from our strong force of 110,000 members and affiliate chambers, and in particular, the Government of Malaysia and YAB Perdana Menteri Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The WCEC will serve as a platform to strengthen the business and investment collaboration between domestic and foreign investors, as well as to enhance Malaysia’s international standing.

Around 1,000 Malaysian participants and 3,000 representatives from overseas chambers are expected to participate in the convention. The list of issues covers in the plenary sessions include geo-economic fragmentation and economic security, business and investment propositions, new green and low carbon industrial revolution, and youth as well as women empowerment.

Besides showcasing Malaysia is “Asia’s Truly” tourists’ destination, a prelude to the Visit Malaysia Year 2025, ACCCIM will organise post-convention business and investment tours in Peninsular and East Malaysia. This is to provide investors with first-hand information about the investment and business opportunities in the country.

Thank you. Enjoy your evening.