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ACCCIM Press Releases

18 Oct 2024

ACCCIM’S PRESS STATEMENT ON THE 2025 NATIONAL BUDGET

The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) President Datuk Ng Yih Pyng said the Budget 2025 is a well-balanced, growth and investment-oriented to transform the economy and safeguard the well-being of the rakyat.

ACCCIM welcomes the Budget’s initiatives and measures to sustain the momentum of economic growth, address cost-living pressures, encourage high-growth high value investments, and build capabilities for medium-and long-term sustainability.

President, Datuk Ng Yih Pyng said that the Government’s continuation of fiscal repairs and policy reforms to reduce the budget deficit to 3.8% of GDP in 2025 from estimated 4.3% of GDP in 2024, will put our nation on a sustainable fiscal path, creating a positive environment for growth, opportunity, and prosperity.

Datuk Ng also commended the Budget’s focus on bolstering its global competitiveness, equipping domestic enterprises and industries with the capabilities to adopt technology, digitalise, decarbonise, ESG and strengthening research development, commercialization and innovation (R&D&C&I) needs closer alliances of both public and private sectors in maintaining business competitiveness and build capabilities for long-term resilience.

In this regard, ACCCIM fully supports the Government’s commitment to streamline bureaucratic processes, expedite business approval processes, centralizing coordination, and the digitalization of public delivery services.  We must ensure that better coordination at the Federal, state and local authorities to avoid duplications and save businesses’ time and resources. For example, routine application processes can be done through auto-approval system.

ACCCIM looks forward to the completion of the document entitled ILTIZAM Initiative (formerly known as the New Deals for Business) and the legislation of Government Efficiency Commitment Act, which will enhance operational efficiency of the public delivery system, reduce bureaucracy, boost productivity and our competitiveness in the region.

While the Budget empowers micro, small and medium-enterprises (MSMEs) to become regional champions through the strengthening of funding of ecosystem, incentives and capacity building, ACCCIM emphasizes the need to uplift their technological and digitalization as well as exports capabilities in the face of rising business costs, economic complexities and competitive pressures.

The Budget has budgeted RM7.5 billion for TVET, which Datuk Ng said that we cannot emphasize enough the importance of building a skilled and resilient workforce ready to respond to today’s manpower needs and tomorrow’s jobs in AI, ESG and green skills. To tackle skilled manpower and talent pipeline constraints, Malaysia must maintain its openness to foreign talent and strengthen reskilling and upskilling policies that promote the development of local talent.

ACCCIM said that the proposed 13.3% increase in minimum wage to RM1,700 per month is reasonable though it would increase the cost of employment and operation costs of MSMEs. Hence, it is important that the employees must improve their productivity to offset the increase in cost.  We believe that the time has come for the Government to consider fixing the minimum wage by state, which takes into account state differences in terms of economic growth, cost of living, social and other demographic factors.

The proposed implementation of a multi-tiered levy is a good move to reduce over-dependency on foreign workers and encourage automation. In this regard, ACCCIM urges the Government to plough back the full amount of levy collected (not additional levy collected as proposed in the 2023 Budget) into a fund, to be utilized to support employers in financing automation initiatives.

Datuk Ng urges businesses, especially MSMEs to make full use of the Budget 2025 measures and initiatives to facilitate their business transformation and growth journey.

ACCCIM will work closely with Government and stakeholders in the industry to enhance a conducive business ecosystem and adapt to the changing economic complexities and competitive pressures.

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