Malaysia must overcome corruption and carry
out more market-oriented reforms if it is to move up from being a middle-income
economy, CIMB Group chief Datuk Seri Nazir Razak and younger brother to the
prime minister has told Financial Times (FT).
He also told the FT that his eldest brother
had “a hell of a task” because “worldwide, no one has really been able to
reform from incumbency”.
Nazir's elder brother and the country's sixth
PM, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has been sprearheading a slew of governmental,
economic and social reforms to transform the country, but Malaysia's top banker
seemed to suggest that it was not enough in an interview published in the
international business paper today.
“(Corruption) remains a problem and it is
something that needs to be combated,” he told FT.
Nazir told the paper that Malaysia could
consider granting an amnesty for those involved in minor corruption, as has
been done in Hong Kong and other countries, an idea that the Najib
administration has resisted.
“You could argue that when you do that, you
will get a lot less resistance from the vested interests, which is always the
problem; then say, the past is the past and we all start from scratch. I still
believe that’s what is needed,” Nazir was quoted as saying.
He highlighted that there was “still a need
to strengthen market forces in general and that is about rolling back
government in business, both in terms of bureaucracies but also in terms of its
direct involvement.”
Nazir told the paper Putrajaya must push
reforms that give more free rein to market forces and roll back government
ownership of business through privatizations, such as the public listing of
Malaysian palm oil giant Felda Global Ventures Holdings last week, which would
also draw in major world business players like Axiata.
No comments:
Post a Comment