Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said it is time to “reconsider” the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) presence in Malaysia if the body is “unwilling to cooperate”.
The minister described the UN refugee agency as a “magnet” for refugees to come to Malaysia as its office here allegedly issues its cards “too easily”, New Straits Times reported.
Mohamad (above) added that an international agreement on UNHCR’s jurisdiction, responsibilities, and scope of its operations here is needed as there are no standard operating procedures.
He noted that the Home Ministry is taking steps to ensure every refugee application undergoes thorough screening and obtains the ministry’s approval before the issuance of a UNHCR card.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has urged Malaysia to introduce reforms to strengthen public finances and fund its mounting spending needs on social protection and education.
This includes reintroducing the goods and services tax (GST) to broaden the tax base, and gradually replacing fuel subsidies with carbon pricing to reduce carbon emissions while protecting vulnerable households.
Its 2026 Economy Survey for Malaysia also urged the government to prioritise performance-based measures to develop the bumiputera economy - such as targeted capacity-building programmes, skills upgrading and access-to-finance schemes - rather than relying on ownership-based quotas.
As for the country’s booming data centre sector, the group observed that it is helping to drive growth and foreign investment, especially in the construction sector, but is creating relatively few jobs compared to the size of the investment while straining electricity and water supply.
Responding to the report, Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Nasir said Malaysia’s priority is to increase its people’s incomes before broadening its tax base.
“There may be views on introducing a more efficient taxation system, but we also need to consider the space to raise people’s incomes first.
“At the moment, while we respect the OECD’s view, what is more important is how to broaden our tax income because without higher pay or better wages, whatever tax that we introduce may have some repercussions in terms of what people consume or what people earn,” Bernama quoted him as saying at the report’s launch in Putrajaya.
Youths aged 18 to 30 who successfully complete AI courses under the Rakyat Digital platform will be offered three months of free access and subscriptions to leading AI software, Anwar said at the launch of the AI Malaysia initiative in Cyberjaya.
PM Anwar Ibrahim The offer is part of the AI Untuk Rakyat programme to accelerate AI literacy and adoption, particularly among young people.
It will be opened in conjunction with Merdeka Day on Aug 31, and is expected to benefit 100,000 youths, Bernama reported.
The programme will also offer modules covering AI Safety, Cyber Safe, Agentic AI, Generative AI, and Cloud Untuk Rakyat (Cloud for the People). - Mkini
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