Economic Action Council (EAC) should involve various stakeholders

The government decision to set up an Economic Action Council (EAC) to address the nation's economic woes is timely.

According to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, the new EAC members will consist of few ministries such as Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti), the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy). It also includes other distinguished individuals such as the Bank Negara governor and other experts.

Looking at the current situation, the country’s economic condition is volatile and vulnerable to risk due to the oil price drop and the impact of Covid-19, hence the EAC's membership should be widened to include not only economic experts but also industrial players particularly in the tourism and manufacturing sectors.

In this regard, the representative from Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) and tourism associations such as the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta), the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) and the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (Mita) should be considered as well since these associations get involved directly in such industries and feel the impact of the economic lockdown aforementioned.

Furthermore, based on data by the Department of Statistics, the country’s economy grew 3.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019. The growth was mainly contributed by the services and manufacturing sectors which recorded 58.6 percent and 22.1 percent respectively.

In other words, even though the growth recorded has declined dramatically, both the services and manufacturing sectors still played a pivotal role to became the backbone of our economy.

From this standpoint, the involvement of industrial players in the EAC is really important in getting the right and constructive advice for the government to come out with an effective economic solution in the near future. - Mkini