Senior Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said the new policy would provide high-quality and high-tech employment opportunities and improve people's lives and livelihoods as well as securing shared prosperity. NSTP/DANIAL SAAD

KUALA LUMPUR: International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) has today launched the New Investment Policy (NIP) to achieve sustainable economic growth.

Senior Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said the new policy would provide high-quality and high-tech employment opportunities and improve people's lives and livelihoods as well as securing shared prosperity.

Anchored by the National Investment Aspirations (NIA), Azmin said the new investment policy outlined significant strategies to reinvigorate and catalyse Malaysia's investment ecosystem.

"Pivotal to this new policy are six strategic thrusts to address headlong the economic and investment challenges of a dynamic and fast changing world," said Azmin, who is also International Trade and Industry Minister.

"The need for such a whole-of-nation approach is all the more imperative as world economies like Malaysia power out of the pandemic towards vigorous and sustainable economic recovery," he added.

Among the strategic thrusts of the new investment policy is the formulation of a unified investment strategy on the NIA and the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) agenda as well as emphasis to be given to agile and forward-looking incentive packages targeted directly to match the needs and demands of investors.

Investment Promotion Agencies (IPA) will also be charged with clearer and more defined roles and responsibilities to ensure seamless and smooth investor journey.

The new investment policy will also prioritise the nurturing of innovative, high impact and high-tech investments which would be conducive to the creation of high-skilled jobs.

Another strategic thrust is to ensure the establishment of a vibrant talent pool to meet the needs and demands of the labour market and capture high value job opportunities.

Finally, the new policy will accelerate the streamlining of a holistic business ecosystem that ensures the ease of doing business, enhances competitiveness, and secures Malaysia's position as a preferred investment destination in the region.

Azmin urged small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to come aboard the ESG agenda in order to avail of the greater opportunities to access financing, including green finance adding that the government will prioritise the enhancing of their capabilities to facilitate compliance with ESG targets.

"Multinational corporations (MNC) should continue to serve as lighthouses to the SMEs in the ESG integration process," he said.

On Malaysia's membership in RCEP and the CPTPP and the recent signing of the expanded Malaysia-Türkiye FTA, he said local businesses should take advantage of the opportunities to gain wider market access, tap into diverse base of resources, suppliers and raw materials, as they integrate into the regional and global supply chains.

Azmin lauded the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) upskilling initiative for women and girls, providing seven million training opportunities, as a prime example of an early harvest of the benefits of the framework.

He underscored the significance of the achievements of Miti in ratifying the most significant and impactful multilateral blocs and FTAs such as the RCEP and CPTPP, including IPEF as well as "implementing people-oriented policies, rakyat-centric initiatives and priorities that go to the heart of the people."

Source: New Straits Times