Meaningful salary, wealth sharing to build equitable, prosperous society - PM

KUALA LUMPUR - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government will focus on improving the quality of life for all Malaysians through the Madani Economy: Empowering the People initiative launched today.

He said this includes the need for social protection for all, jobs with meaningful salaries and wealth sharing to build a more equitable and prosperous society.

"The success of reforming the economic structure needs to be calculated to the extent that it can create more jobs with meaningful salaries for Malaysians,” he said in his speech at the launch of the new economic framework here.

Anwar, who is also the Minister of Finance, said the wage or salary rate compared with total income in Malaysia was at 32.4 per cent last year.

He said that to achieve a more balanced economic partnership, the government will implement a policy that supports wage increase compared with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 45 per cent, in line with more developed countries.

"Efforts include a review of the minimum wage as well as introducing laws that guarantee a safe and comfortable working environment.

"Apart from the implementation of the minimum wage, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Human Resources are refining the progressive wage model towards a more inclusive increase in income,” he said.

The Prime Minister said an increase in income in line with productivity is critical to ensure a meaningful level of quality of life in addressing the cost of living challenges.

He said Malaysia needs to reduce its reliance on unskilled foreign labour which contributes to low overall wages and even reduces employers’ morale and incentives to innovate and increase competitiveness.

Therefore, Anwar said that the government intends to implement tiered foreign worker levies, which means that part of the increase in levy revenue will be dedicated to automation and training programmes for local workers. - BERNAMA