Guan Eng wants EMC postponed

GEORGE TOWN: The federal government has been urged to postpone implementing the Employer Mandatory Commitment (EMC) requirement until the economy improves.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (pix) said even 2018 was not a good time to impose the EMC where employees have to bear the foreign worker levy.

He said local employers will have to bear the foreign exchange costs in paying for the levy where previously it was paid by those coming in to work.

He said this meant foreign workers could repatriate more money back to their home countries.

"It is not the time for the EMC," he said in a press conference today after chairing the Penang Exco meeting.

On a brighter note, Lim said his government was in talks to bring in a RM1billion investment for the medical sector.

He declined to elaborate but pointed out this was in line with George Town and Kuala Lumpur being named as two of the places in Malaysia with the best healthcare services by InternationalLiving.com.

He said the list gave impetus to grow the healthcare industry in the state and reinforce the position of Penang as a medical destination.

Under the list, Malaysia emerged top as providing the best healthcare services worldwide edging out Costa Rica, Colombia and Mexico.

In that vein, Lim called upon the federal government to expedite plans to expand the Penang International Airport (PIA).

He said the five million capacity was surpassed as Malaysian Airports Berhad (MAB) figures showed 6,039,850 passengers in 2014, 6,258,756 passengers in 2015 and 6,630,192 last year.

He expected seven million passengers this year and urged the relevant authorities to address the issue.