THE policy paper on progressive wage will be tabled at the National Economic Action Council in August, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said. 

He said the policy developed by his ministry and the Human Resources Ministry is aimed at ensuring a more inclusive and equitable growth of the people’s wages, as well as driving towards a better income. 

“Even if the government focuses 100% on the price of goods, but without efforts and initiatives to raise people’s wages commensurately, the community will continue to struggle with cost of living,” he said in a press conference in Putrajaya today.

Rafizi said focusing on the growth of people’s wages will be the main theme in the country’s economic planning under the 12th Malaysia Plan, apart from helping to deal with people’s living costs.

Meanwhile, in an effort to ensure the continuity of food supply, Rafizi said his ministry through the People’s Income Initiative is in the process of implementing agricultural and nutrition projects on government-owned land throughout the country with a total area of 404.7ha.

Without going into details on the overall cost of the project under the Farmer Entrepreneur Initiative (Intan), Rafizi said the effort would indirectly help the B40 group get involved in agriculture.

Besides the provision of land under the Intan model, the government will also assist in providing construction infrastructure such as greenhouses and land clearing.

“It is expected to benefit 4,000 people in the future with a ratio of a quarter acre or half an acre for each person,” he said, adding that the Intan model also involves the cooperation of government agricultural agencies and state agencies. – Bernama, June 28, 2023.