KUCHING, Nov 23: Malaysia needs a new economic model to create wealth and economic growth post-Covid-19, says Special Envoy to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem.
“For that we need to ensure that the building blocks of our economic recovery is in place. We need to ensure that we have the correct economic activities that can create the jobs needed in the post-Covid-19 world.
“It is clear that the pre-Covid-19 model of development needs to be re-evaluated. We need new models for creating wealth and economic growth.
“We need to understand how the pattern of global supply chains will change and how we can take advantage of these changes,” said Riot in his speech at a Zoom meeting organized by MY NIPPON Forum titled “Enhancing Japanese Into Malaysia: A Virtual Roundtable Discussion” at his office in Putrajaya today.
He reiterated that due to the severity of the economic impact caused by the pandemic, Malaysia needs assistance from developed countries to rebuild its battered economy.
“For this we look for guidance and inspiration from innovative countries such as Japan. Japan has been a key partner in Malaysia’s development. Today we have more than 1,500 Japanese companies in Malaysia, giving employment to 340,000 Malaysians.
“But the post-Covid-19 world poses new challenges and it is our hope that new types of Japanese companies with new technologies and supply chains will invest in Malaysia and grow together with Malaysia for our mutual benefit,” said Riot.
The Serian MP reiterated that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there is an urgency to have a recovery strategy that could stimulate economic growth and create jobs.
“And we need to do it in a hurry because the pandemic has created huge stress points to our businesses and industries and affected the job prospects of a very large number of Malaysians,” he said.
Riot who is a former Minister of Human Resources pointed out that during his tenure, his ministry had put in place innovative policies to soften the impact of economic downturns.
“When I was the Minister for Human Resources, I have been involved in creating the worker insurance scheme that has now been a critical lifeline to workers who have lost their jobs. But what we need to do now is to ensure that we are ready to ride the wave when the process of recovery begins,” he pointed out.
MY NIPPON Forum is a key partner to the Malaysian government initiative to foster stronger and more effective relationships with Japanese companies interested to invest in Malaysia, and Malaysian companies keen to invest in Japan.
Chairing the meeting was MY NIPPON Forum chief executive officer Dr Shahridan Faiez. Among those who participated in the meeting were the World Bank country director for Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Brunei Dr Ndiame Diop, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Malaysia managing director Mai Onozawa and Foreign Investments Promotion Division, Malaysia Investment Development Authority (MIDA) deputy director Mohd Hamim Hamdan Mustafa. — DayakDaily
