Invest Malaysia - Updated Najib announces new measures to further liberalise Malaysia’s financial sector

by **Cals** Tue 10 Jun 2014, 03:14

Invest Malaysia - Updated Najib announces new measures to further liberalise Malaysia’s financial sector

Business & Markets 2014

Written by theedgemalaysia.com

Monday, 09 June 2014 13:07

KUALA LUMPUR (June 9): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has affirmed a commitment to further liberalise and strengthen the economy.

In a speech delivered this morning, at the 2014 Invest Malaysia conference, the Prime Minister announced three new measures to further liberalise Malaysia’s financial sector and promote investment:

“The mandatory requirement for credit ratings will be removed, effective January 1, 2017. This will broaden the corporate bond market, and enable investors to further diversify their portfolios.”

“The equity shareholding for credit rating agencies will be liberalised, and international credit rating agencies with full foreign ownership will be allowed in the Malaysian market from January 1, 2017.”

“With immediate effect, foreign corporations will be allowed to own 100% of shares in unit trust management companies, and there will be no barrier to entry for new foreign unit trust management companies coming into Malaysia.”

The Prime Minister highlighted Malaysia’s impressive economic progress, for instance, outlining strong GDP growth statistics, GNI per capita increases and an overall poverty rate drop. The Prime Minister also highlighted measures taken to make it easier to live, invest and do business in Malaysia:

“Malaysia was ranked 6th in the latest ‘Ease of Doing Business’ report by the World Bank, up fifteen places from 2009. We are now 12th out of 60 countries in the IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook – ahead of the UK, Australia, Japan and Korea; and 3rd in Bloomberg’s list off the 22 best emerging markets. We are also a safe haven for investment: according to the World Bank, Malaysia’s investor protection regime is ranked fourth in the world.”

In addition, the Prime Minister outlined his vision for the country:

“I want to see Malaysia emerge not just with a high-income economy, but a high-quality economy. That means building a stable and inclusive financial system, encouraging innovation, and tackling corruption. To that end, we have introduced policies and reforms to ensure our growth is not just strong, but sustainable.”

The Prime Minister noted that in order to achieve sustainable developed-nation status, the government’s financial position must be strengthened:

“Over the past year, I have refocused our efforts to improve Malaysia’s fiscal situation: rationalising blanket subsidies so that government support reaches those who need it most; reducing spending; remaining within our self-imposed debt ceiling; reducing the budget deficit faster than expected; and broadening the tax base with the forthcoming introduction of a Goods and Services Tax.”

Beneath impressive economic growth statistics, the Prime Minister acknowledged that the public’s understanding of development is shaped by many non-economic factors that are equally important:

“Their day to day experiences, their concerns – things like traffic, crime, or pollution – are far more important to them than GNI or GDP statistics. So whilst improving the quality of growth, we must also focus on improving the quality of life: the measure of public happiness that allows people to feel pride and ownership of their nation’s success.”

Concluding his speech, the Prime Minister affirmed the need for an open and flexible economic policy in an increasingly integrated world economy:

“Our liberalisation programmes are designed to prepare our industries to compete in a new, more closely connected global economy. We are pursuing bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, negotiating hard to secure the best benefits for our people and our businesses. And we are working with our allies to shaping the economic destiny of our region.”