His Excellency Mr. Bai Tian, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China in Malaysia,

Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri William Cheng and Yang Berbahagia Dato Lim Kok Cheong, Life Honorary Presidents of ACCCIM
Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Lim Kuang Sia, President of the Klang Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCCI)
Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning！

1. First of all, on behalf of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia ( ACCCIM), I wish to extend our warm welcome to the over 700 delegates from all over Malaysia to the 73rd Annual General Meeting today. My special thanks go to Ambassador His Excellency Mr Bai Tian for gracing and officiating our meeting.

2. Today’s opening ceremony has special significance. The ACCCIM was founded in 1921 and this AGM marks the first time in the 98 years’ history of the ACCCIM that its AGM is officiated by the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China in Malaysia. This will be recorded in the history of ACCCIM as a significant event. In this aspect, we are grateful to His Excellency Ambassador Bai Tian for holding the ACCCIM in high regard and granted us such an honour.

3. Malaysia and China are old friends and good partners. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China and a new milestone in the development process of the two countries’ ties. Meanwhile, the development of the close collaborative rapport between the ACCCIM and the China Embassy in Malaysia has achieved tremendous progress in recent years. At this historic starting point, we will continue to work together to integrate and pool our resources and strength to provide a pragmatic and effective platform and channels for enterprises in the two countries to achieve more win-win results.

4. The announcement of the establishment of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area has attracted much global attention. As compared to the world’s three major bay areas, namely New York Bay, San Francisco Bay and Tokyo Bay, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area is a new bright spot in the global economic map.

5. The development and construction kick-started by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area covers a wide spectrum of vibrant conventional and new enterprises.

In line with the Belt and Road Initiative, businesses in the Greater Bay Area and Malaysian enterprises have much room for co-operation and enhancement of Malaysia’s role in bringing in investors to Malaysia and helping local businesses to invest abroad. Moreover, it will further enhance the economic and trade relations between Malaysia and China and expand the two nation’s trade and business ventures into the ASEAN region and the rest of the world.

6. Presently, many in the Malaysian business community may not have a full understanding on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. To gain a better insight into the opportunities, incentive packages and development potentials offered by it, I have planned to lead a business investment delegation which includes Bumiputra and Indian entrepreneurs to visit the Greater Bay Area in the later part of the year. Given our wide networks, vast experience and contacts together with the fact that many ACCCIM members have long been investing and doing business in China, we are more than willing to join hands with fellow Malaysians of other ethnic communities to explore opportunities in the Greater Bay Area.

7. In this regard, the ACCCIM has set up a Greater Bay Division in our Secretariat to provide advice and other assistance to the business community.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Members’ feedback: Hot Politics and Cold Economy

8. Over the past eight months, I and my colleagues in ACCCIM have visited a total of 11 Constituent Chambers of ACCCIM throughout Malaysia to engage face-to-face dialogue with them. From their feedback on the country’s current state of affairs, it was almost unanimous that although the new government has come to power for more than a year, the country remains in a “hot politics cold economics” situation. It was agreed that the government should put in more efforts to optimize national construction, improve the people’s livelihood and attract foreign investments, and stimulate the market. There is nothing more important than promoting national harmony and stability to generate opportunities for all trades and industries and to increase the income of all Malaysians so that they can have a better life.

9. We hope the government could fully suppress the escalation of vicious political competition in the country. The government’s many u-turns in its policy implementation have led to negative perception. Emotion-driven political actions threaten social harmony and stability and result in uncertainties. More and more of our members are concerned about the prospects of our economy. Political uncertainty not only causes confusion but market volatility and discourages investors from investing.

Revitalise Domestic Direct Investment (DDI)

10. Since 2015, Malaysia’s approved Domestic Direct Investment has been declining at a yearly average of 8.8% . This trend is worrying and deserves our serious attention.

11. Over the years, findings of economic surveys conducted by the ACCCIM reveal that government policies are one of the four major factors affecting business performance. The country’s economy remains robust and can continue to implement supporting economic, fiscal and business policies. The business community has high hopes on the government and anxiously hopes to see that the government introduce more clear-cut and effective strategies to activate market vitality, restore investors’ confidence, and more importantly maintain the economy’s development momentum.

12. With regard to the overall administrative systems, it is our hope that the government could carry out decisive and comprehensive reforms, especially to enhance the administrative efficiency of public service and continue to practice open tender procedures based on international standards and use international guidelines as reference so as to create an open and fair competition environment.

13. The ACCCIM is of the view that the government should show a strong political will to carry out stable, consistently co-ordinated policies and plans to boost our economic resilience and achieve breakthroughs which truly benefit the people, These policies and plans include the following:

(i) The need to implement structural reforms to enhance the country’s growth potentials;

(ii) The uplifting of productivity and efficiency of the labour force;

(iii) The streamlining of laws and regulations to enhance competitiveness; and

(iv) Increased investment in infrastructure and human capital.

14. To play an effective role as a facilitator, it is imperative for the government to resolve the long-standing labour shortage issue faced by business owners to lessen their costs of doing business. Over the years, tedious and cumbersome application process and shortage of labour supply are continuously adding to the cost for business owners and seriously affecting their business operations, resulting in widespread complaints and dissatisfaction among business owners.

15. The ACCCIM and scores of trade organizations have several times called upon and submitted memoranda as well as proposals and recommendations to the government with the view to jointly resolving the foreign workers issue once for all by formulating a holistic and clear-cut policy.

16. There is a need for the government to study and work out a long-term plan on foreign workers. Presently, several ministries and agencies are involved in the processing of foreign workers. We would like to propose that the government process the application for foreign workers on a one-stop basis under a single ministry or agency for greater efficiency and set up an integrated database on foreign workers in Malaysia. This will prevent foreign workers from overstaying in the country. In addition, the hiring and management process of foreign workers should be streamlined and all policies relating to foreign workers should be reviewed as soon as possible.

17. The ACCCIM urges the the government to impose a 3-year moratorium period on the increase of foreign worker levy to lighten the burden of employers. In addition, part of the levy collected should be used to fund staff training, skill enhancement and transformation towards automation to encourage the business community to provide training on new technologies and new knowledge to their employees, especially the nurturing of talent required in the digital economy age and Industry 4.0 and develop Artificial Intelligence–related technologies in a strategic and planned manner.

18. The ACCCIM hopes that the government could lower the income tax rates for companies, Small and Medium Enterprises and individuals.

To give the people a higher disposable income the ACCCIM proposes that the government introduce a more competitive tax incentive regime to increase corporate and individual liquidity and stimulate and revatilise the domestic consumer market, drive domestic direct investment and economic development towards a new milestone in 2020. These proposals include the following:

(i) To lower the corporate income tax rate from 24% to 23% for the Year of Assessment 2020, and hopefully that the corporate tax rate be gradually reduced yearly to 18%;

(ii) To increase the first chargeable income of SMEs from RM0.5 million to RM2.0 million and to lower the SME tax rate to 15% from 17%;

(iii) To increase the deductible expenses for personal income tax from RM9,000 to RM10,000.

(iv) To do away with the 5% Real Property Gain Tax (RPGT) on the disposal of property which has been owned for five years and above to lessen the current overhang of residential and commercial properties in the country.

19. The government has launched the National Anti-Corruption Plan 2019-2023 which aims at creating a corruption-free nation through three goals. These goals are Accountability and Credibility of Judiciary, Prosecution and Law Enforcement Agencies; Efficiency and Responsiveness in Public Service Delivery; and Integrity in Business.

20. The ACCCIM supports the government’s intensity and determination to eradicate corruption. We believe this will help neutralize the negative perception about Malaysia brought about by the 1MDB scandal and restore foreign investors’ confidence to invest in Malaysia. Of course, it will facilitate the cost effectiveness of local business owners, and project Malaysia as a country which is conducive to live, work, develop and do business.

21. Lastly, once again I thank His Excellency Ambassador Bai Tian for his attendance and wish that the friendly relations between Malaysia and China will continue to flourish in times to come.

22. I also wish to take this opportunity to thank the National Council , Working Committees and Staff of the Secretariat of ACCCIM for their collaboration and efforts over the past year. I thank the host of today’s AGM, the Klang Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry for successfully hosting this meeting. I wish all good health and success. Thank you.