INVESTMENTS in healthcare and to digitalise the economy should be the key foci of the 12th Malaysia Plan which sets the country’s development agenda for the next five years, economists said.

After much delay, the 12MP covering the period 2021 to 2025 will be tabled by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob in Parliament on September 27. It was initially supposed to be tabled on August 5, 2020.

Unlike the previous Malaysia Plan, the 12th edition will come at an unprecedented time when the country deals with recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and embraces endemicity.

The head of research at the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research, Dr Shankaran Nambiar, told The Malaysian Insight that the inadequacies of the healthcare system were made clear in the past two years due to the epidemic.  

Wider, more efficient and speedy access to healthcare should be a key priority in the 12MP, he said.

“The 12MP should focus on the longer term. All the (economic aid) packages so far have concentrated on short-term measures to improve people’s well-being. It is now necessary to revive the long-term sustainability of the economy,” Nambiar said.

As for economic strategies, he said they should focus on reinvigorating industrialisation, with particular emphasis on upskilling those in the manufacturing sector, reducing the dependence on unskilled foreign labour and encouraging technological upgrades.

These strategies must accompany digitalisation as, ultimately, goods are still needed for trade.

“It is pointless to build platforms if you do not have the content to sell. That is why re-industrialisation is so important, as well as the technology that goes with it,” he added.

Putrajaya should also be careful in choosing projects, Nambiar said.

The government should only go for projects which can generate gains in the medium term and will benefit a large set of the population.

“In technical terms, that means the government should concentrate on projects which have high multiplier effects and wide linkages,” he said.

“The small and medium enterprises (SME) sector should be targeted because they have been severely affected by the pandemic. It is now necessary to rebuild the sector,” he said.

Agreeing with Nambiar, MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd vice-president and head of research Imran Yusof called for more investments in the healthcare sector.

“Investment in the healthcare system is essential to ensure that the country remains resilient in the current and future epidemics.”

Imran said the 12MP’s focus in the medium- to long-term should be on ensuring that the country remains competitive in the next phase of the global economic cycle, by focusing on technology and digitalisation including promoting more automation.

“The short-term focus should be to boost economic recovery after coming out of the prolonged lockdown. Measures looking at supporting and investing in high economic multiplier sectors would provide a boost to the economy that should kick-start the recovery,” he said.

At the same time, provision of assistance to businesses affected by the pandemic, such as tourism and education, should continue, Imran said.

“Last but not least, we expect the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) aspect to gain some focus as to ensure sustainability in the economy for the future generation,” he added.

Bank Islam chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the main focus for the 12MP is to ensure that the country would be able to accelerate its development programme.

“The focus should be digitising the country and this would mean investment in the 5G network as a prerequisite for effective adoption (of digitalisation), especially among the SMEs,” he said.

Another area which warrants attention is education, Afzanizam said.

The government should see how technology could be used to help improve the learning experience which can stimulate innovation and creativity.

Agriculture should not be sidelined in the 12MP, Afzanizam added.

“Malaysians have been too dependent on imports for local consumption which have resulted in the widening of the trade deficit in foodstuff to RM21.8 billion in 2020 from RM1.1 billion in 1990,” he said.

Again, technology can be a catalyst to increasing crop yield as well as creating interest among the younger generation to take up work opportunities in agriculture, Afzanizam added.

However, the immediate concern would be on ensuring Malaysia’s recovery from the pandemic with the right re-opening strategies that must also take into account the health aspect, he said.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Mustapa Mohamed has said that the 12MP will also address how to bridge the development gap between states and areas in the country.

This includes Sabah and Sarawak among six states identified as being “behind” in terms of development.

The income gap among the B40, M40 and T20 groups, especially those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, will also be addressed in the plan.

It will also look at ensuring that basic needs such as water, electricity and Internet infrastructure will become fully accessible to the people. – September 22, 2021.