PETALING JAYA: Malaysia emerged as the biggest gainer in the 2018 CG Watch report, climbing three spots to the fourth spot, after having ranked seventh when the report was last published in 2016.
The 2018 CG Watch report published by the Asian Corporate Governance Association (ACGA) and CLSA in December has ranked Malaysia fourth out of the 12 Asia-Pacific economies in terms of market accountability and transparency.
Malaysia is the biggest 2018 gainer among regional economic rivals such as Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.
The ACGA states that the 2018 improvement reflects Malaysia’s “concrete moves to tackle endemic corruption issues fostered by the previous Najib regime.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng (pix) said in a statement that the jump proves that the government’s continuous effort to instil the principles of Competency, Accountability and Transparency (CAT) in its administration is bearing fruits.
” The report further stresses that the jump is based on optimism over the 9 May 2018 political change in Malaysia, which has translated into “tangible improvements to enforcement and reporting,” he said.
In addition to strong anti-corruption measures that are being undertaken, the government has also stepped up the open tender procurement process more widely.
This he said has not only increased the level of transparency in the public sector, but has also influenced the private sector positively.
“The application of zero-based budgeting and the migration towards accrual accounting from cash accounting by 2021 as announced in the 2019 Budget are also part of the Government’s wider institutional reform agenda that will further raise the level of accountability and transparency in the Government,” he added.
Lim also noted that the improvement in placement is only one example on how the government’s institutional reform agenda is raising Malaysia’s governance quality and contributing to fiscal sustainability.
He added that the government will continue to press on institutional reforms to prevent widespread abuses that happened under the previous administration from repeating as well as to improve the economic well-being of all Malaysians.
These institutional reforms undertaken by the government have convinced the top three rating agencies to maintain Malaysia’s sovereign credit ratings at A- or A3.
Moody’s on Dec7, 2018 is the latest to have done so and this came after Fitch Ratings reaffirmed the Government’s credit ratings at A- on 14 August 2018.
The dramatic surge in approved foreign direct investment in manufacturing since May 2018 as reported by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), is the biggest proof that the government’s plan is working.
Approved manufacturing FDI for the period between May until September 2018 saw a year-on-year increase of 379% year-on-year, or RM27.7 billion to RM35.0 billion, from RM7.3 billion in the May-September 2017 period.
The total approved manufacturing FDI so far for this year is expected to create more than 30,000 new jobs in the near future once it is implemented.
