Media statement by Nga Kor Ming in Ipoh on Thursday, 23^rd September 2010:

The RM1.4 trillion ETP is pie in the sky

The recent RM1.4 trillion Economic Transformation Plan(ETP) unveiled by Prime Minister, Dato Seri Najib bin Tun Razak is merely a pie in the sky as doubt gathered the ability of the Government to attract such huge investment in the next 9 years.

The ambitious but ambiguous plan unveiled by the Government is a series of Public Relation exercise aimed at wooing support in the coming General Election.

With the current national debt stood at nearly RM400 billions and a 15 consecutive years of deficit budget, it is highly doubtful how the Government could raise the fund to finance all the huge and gigantic projects earmarked by PEMANDU.

According to the figure from United Nation, Malaysia's FDI had dropped 81% in 2009 to a mediocre RM4.4 billion. Nevertheless, if the Government were to materialized the target set by ETP, an annual FDI amounting to RM84 billion will be needed. In other words, our country's FDI will need to be increased by 2,000% on an annual basis if based on year 2009 figure.

ETP's success relied heavily on 60% from the foreign private investment, 32% from domestic private investment and the remaining 8% will be from government's expenditure.

In other words, the plan will need RM840 billion foreign private investment and such amount is as good as pie in the sky judging from the BN Government's poor governance in the past. BN is painting rainbow to the people but indeed what received is peanut.

I remind Malaysian that past record can be used as a benchmark. In early 1990s, Malaysia's FDI consist of about 40% of the total investment in the ASEAN region, which is second in term of ranking after Singapore. However in 2009, Malaysia's position had dropped to number six(6) with the total investment stood at a poor 3.9% from the total FDI flew into South East Asia.

I urge the government to adopt practical reform such as doing away with racial discrimination policy to attract human capital & avoid increasing brain drain crisis currently facing by the country. According to World Bank statistics, the number of Malaysian migrated to a third country had increased by 150 folds from 9,765 to 1.48 millions since independence to 2007. The figure is alarming but the Government had decided to adopt an ostrich mentality by sweeping the problem under the carpet.

* Nga Kor Ming, DAP Perak State Secretary & MP for Taiping