KUALA LUMPUR: High food import bills and issues concerning food security are among the topics which have been given emphasis in the revised Budget 2023, according to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
It also focuses on efforts to empower the roles of big companies, as well as the small-and-medium industry (SMI) in the country, he said.
“They (big companies and the SMI) need to focus on and be given chances to explore new technologies and digitalisation so as to be more competitive and able to create more job opportunities,” he said at the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia’s (ACCCIM) Chinese New Year Open House here today.
Present were DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook and ACCCIM president Tan Sri Low Kian Chuan.
Elaborating, Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said the government would also look into environmental issues, as well as the possibility of introducing clearer and fresher economic policies that will be beneficial to all.
“Looking at the current post COVID-19 situation, the economic recession in Europe, the impact of the Ukraine-Russia war, it all demands us to be bolder in introducing policies that can benefit us all,” he said.
Meanwhile, the prime minister said all suggestions from stakeholders, including ACCCIM, will be taken into consideration before the tabling of the revised budget.
“The memorandum received from ACCCIM alone was quite thick, so many issues raised in there, but it really helped us. Even during the recent dialogue, we have taken note of several suggestions and InsyaAllah, all those will be addressed in the 2023 Budget,” he said.
Anwar is scheduled to table the budget at Parliament on Feb 24. – BERNAMA
