THE national Budget 2023 will elevate the rakyat’s well-being, improve the competitiveness of businesses and strengthen the nation’s economy, says Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
“The Budget will focus on reinforcing the momentum of the economic recovery, strengthening economic resilience, and implementing comprehensive reforms,” he said, adding that the Budget would centre on four pillars – the rakyat, business, economy, and the Government.
Zafrul and Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow were present at the ‘Budget 2023 Consultation Dialogue’ with the medical devices industry at B Braun Medical Industries (BMI) this morning.
Zafrul said that among the focuses of Budget 2023 were to raise incomes and improve job opportunities, address the cost of living through targeted assistance, promote new growth areas, address food security, ensure inclusive development, drive digitalisation and automation, improve SME competitiveness, promote green growth and sustainable development, enhance disaster risk management, strengthen the resilience of public healthcare, advance fiscal reform, and improve public service delivery.
“The Malaysian economy has shown a strong post-Covid-19 recovery in 2022 in terms of robust economic growth and the return to full employment.
“However, the outlook for 2023 is increasingly uncertain due to global developments, such as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, high commodity and food prices globally, supply chain disruptions, high inflation prompting tightening of monetary policy, and the dampening global growth outlook.
“Hence, the Budget 2023 will need to reinforce Malaysia’s recovery while safeguarding our rakyat and businesses against current and future challenges.
“In this context, Budget 2023 will be a responsible, responsive and reformist Budget,” he said in his speech.
Chow extended his warmest welcome to Zafrul for attending the Budget 2023 Consultation Dialogue.
“Driven by innovation and cutting-edge technologies, the medical device segment is a critical and fast-growing segment within the healthcare industry.
“It is expected that by 2023, the Asia Pacific Medtech market will exceed the European Union (EU) and become the second largest in the world.
“Consequently, a plethora of industry leaders is hoping to establish manufacturing facilities in Asia to meet the rapidly growing demand, with Penang being one of the preferred locations,” Chow said.
He added that Penang’s robust industrial ecosystem not only enables the state to accelerate the breakthroughs in the electrical and electronics (E&E) industry but further entrenches its position as a medical device hub in the region.
“Notably, Penang has the highest concentration of medical technology companies in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
“As the economic powerhouse of Malaysia, Penang is one of the country’s key contributors to investment inflows and external trade.
“Penang’s commendable performance that continues to punch above its weight is a testament to its resilient industrial ecosystem, placing the state at the forefront of industrialisation,” he said.
Chow also commented that Penang topped the nation’s list in 2021 with an all-time high export value of RM354 billion and generated a trade surplus of RM101 billion.
“In the first half of this year, Penang’s export value climbed 28% year-on-year to RM216 billion, representing 29% of the country’s total. Notably, the electrical and electronics (E&E) products and medical devices constantly made up about 80% of the state’s total exports,” he said.
Chow then shared that the state has recently published a statement on the proposals for workforce initiatives in the national Budget 2023, focusing on undergraduates, graduates and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) students.
Among the proposals include having the financial allocations to the institutions of higher learning be tied to the employability of the graduates produced to ensure that the resources invested by the government into the education systems are being optimised by producing industry-ready graduates.
Secondly, to provide human resource subsidies to the private sector to enrol interns, serving as a motivation for the university students to explore career options, understand their fields of interest and be more prepared for the workplace.
Thirdly, to provide matching allowances, covering both tuition fees and living expenses, for companies which sponsor TVET students and offer them full-time jobs upon graduation.
And, tax relief to be given to parents for children that enrol in STEM and TVET courses.
Chow said that looking ahead, the increased competition in the global technology landscape and talent demand would continue dominating the agenda of all nations.
“To remain relevant in the global value chain, we need to be sharp and swift in human capital development programmes,” he said.
Meanwhile, B Braun Asia Pacific president Lam Chee Hong said BMI, as one of the pioneers in the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone, has invested about RM4.66 billion in Malaysia to develop its site, growing from just one production plant with 200 employees to now having three production plants with over 7,600 employees, covering a large area of 193,285sq m.
“We are still impacted by the global supply chain issue and the increase of cost for raw materials and freight, but we are able to cushion the impact due to our ability to pivot quickly with the help of our skilful talents and their ongoing commitment to providing smart solutions for our customers.
“Almost 100% of our employees are Malaysians and we place a high emphasis on growing our local talents via knowledge transfer programmes such as the German Dual Vocational Training (GDVT) which we successfully brought from Germany to Malaysia.
“With the investment in our equipment, buildings, people and suppliers, BMI have grown in leaps and bounds, thanks to the support and cooperation from the Penang government. We still have a good sizeable amount of land space for our future expansion plans in Penang but that will be announced in due course together with the state government.
“We cannot emphasise enough the support and cooperation that we have gotten from the state government throughout the years as they have a great vision for Penang,” Lam added.
He also lauded and thank the Association of Malaysian Medical Industries (AMMI) for proposing B Braun as the host location for the meaningful meeting between the Ministry of Finance and AMMI members.
Earlier, Chow and Zafrul checked out B Braun’s technologically advanced facility, at its Aesculap Academy.
Also present were AMMI chairman Andy Lee, Treasury deputy secretary-general (policy) Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican and Penang Development Corporation (PDC) chief executive officer Datuk Aziz Bakar.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Ahmad Adil Muhamad
Video by Darwina Mohd Daud