Published: on 21 Jun 2012
By Roziana Hamsawi
THE Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) has urged the authorities to find ways to reduce the cost of generating electricity before its tariffs here become the highest in the region.
Its outgoing president Tan Sri William Cheng said ACCCIM hopes that the government and Tenaga Nasional Bhd can be more innovativein resolving this matter, just like what Thailand had done.
He said despite interest shown by foreign investors in the country's Economic Transformation Programme, they are however highly concerned about production costs.
"For example, if we continue to increase the unit cost of our electricity as scheduled, we will be the highest among regional countries," Cheng said in his speech at the ACCCIM 66th annual general meeting here yesterday.
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ACCCIM is also requesting that the gas price be within a competitive, mid-range rate as charged by other gas-producing countries for supply to their local industries.
"With this, our industries will be in a better position to compete and we can attract more foreign investors to invest in manufacturing," he said.
Cheng also reiterated ACCCIM's view on the issue of minimum wage. The trade body wants the rate to be not too high and its implementation not a hasty one.
"The implementation of minimum wage needs to consider the differences between different economic sectors, company location and company size," he said.
In a speech filled with a wide range of suggestions for the government to consider, which is not unusual for ACCCIM, Cheng also spoke on the lack of agricultural land, the sluggish mining sector, teaching languages in school and investing in outsourcing business to benefit female graduates.
"We would like to suggest that the federal government, in collaboration with state governments, open up more land for agricultural production," he said, adding that out of 6.7 million hectares (ha) of cultivable land now, only 2.8 million ha are used for planting crops, livestock farming and aquaculture.
"On a systematic approach, we can open up at least 100,000 to 200,000ha of land a year and in five years, we can have more than 500,000 to one million ha to be used for planting crops, livestock farming, aquaculture and bio-tech," he added.
Touching on reviving the mining sector in view of the rising prices of mineral resources and strong demand from emerging economies, ACCCIM believes that more land and licences should be issued to the business community for mining exploration and development.
Yesterday was Cheng's last day as ACCCIM president and replacing him will be Datuk Lim Kok Cheong, who is Spritzer Bhd director and major shareholder.
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