NOTHING ABOUT STRATEGIES - RAFIDAH AZIZ ON MUHYIDDIN'S NATIONAL RECOVERY PLAN

15 June 2021

Nothing about strategies moving forward for the nation while Covid Pandemic is being managed.

The Government must adopt the preemptive approach in planning for national recovery, and select issues which can even be Implemented now while Covid-19 is being managed, and hopefully curtailed.

The recovery plan should focus among other things on:

1. Economic sectors such as education, key industries, tax treatment to help cut costs, moving forward, and compete.

2. The need to review the delivery of education at all stages of the education infrastructure in line with new post-Covid imperatives.

3. Health-related issues resulting from stresses of Covid lockdowns e.g. affecting families, mental health.

4. How to reintegrate the nation, especially the economy, into regional and global markets and economies.

5. How to address any losses resulting from education and work shutdowns for the last 15 months. How to mitigate them by having measures to assist schools and the various business sectors.

6. Plans to enhance and relate it based on competencies as it now being made imperative globally, e.g.

in the education system, for SMEs, and all along the various production value chains.

7. To review existing laws regulations, rules, procedures resulting from the experiences during the lockdowns.

8. Proper and more effective delegation of authority for decision-making to the State Governments and to district-level officials, not from Ministry HQs.

9. How to provide employment opportunities, especially amongst those retrenched due to closures of businesses.

10. Introduce tax breaks etc. to encourage employment, the introduction of Relevant IT processes, and making adjustments for the new normal market environment.

We need to move forward to look beyond Covid. Let the MoH concentrate on Covid management.

The rest of the Government must add value to the National Recovery Plan consulting their respective stakeholders, and coming up with realistic, effective, implementable, and that will move Malaysia forward, no allowing drips-and-drabs policies to confuse further.

All these must be done in parallel with managing Covid and beyond today, next week, or next month.

TAN SRI RAFIZAH AZIZ