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MUAR: The government, through the National Employment Council (NEC), will strive to create 500,000 jobs even though the country is in dire economic straits as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said this was because the number of unemployed this year had risen to 700,000 or 5.6% compared to just 3% the year before.
“The number of unemployed has increased. Many of those who run businesses had to close their stores after suffering losses. Because of this, some also had to lay off workers or stop hiring new ones.
“And that is why the government created an employment council, which I chair, with the aim of ensuring that the country’s economy continues to be more organized and to find ways to help people, who are now mostly unemployed and without income, ” he said.
The prime minister said this in his speech at the Pagoh Deepavali parliamentary celebrations in Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil (SJKT) Ladang Temiang Renchong here today.
Muhyiddin said that while he knew the goal could be quite difficult to achieve, the government had outlined several proactive measures, including offering tax incentives to attract foreign investors.
“Now it is quite difficult to find investors even though Malaysia, before this, had been the country of choice because we have good infrastructure, a large workforce, roads, industrial sites and adequate public services.
“So if we don’t work hard now and take bold steps to offer more incentives, they won’t invest here because the whole world right now is also looking for investments,” he said.
If they choose to invest in other countries, the government will not be able to provide job opportunities, Muhyiddin said.
At the same time, he urged the human resources ministry and other relevant ministries to use the RM2 billion fund provided by the government to train more young people, especially to upgrade their skills.
Muhyiddin said that many graduates and alumni of the school had failed to get jobs, but expressed confidence that with the new skills acquired, they had a better chance of landing a job.
The prime minister also said that SOPs under the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) had been relaxed to boost the country’s economic activities.
Although there are parties that did not agree with this, he said that the decision was made after careful and detailed study.
“The economy is not fully recovering. There are not many customers in the stalls, the shopping complexes are empty and many hotels have closed their operations due to lack of customers.
“So I recently decided to give some leeway and allow people from Kuala Lumpur to visit Desaru in Johor and those from Johor to travel to the east coast.
“I checked and the hotels are now full… that’s a good sign.
“The pandemic is not over, but we allow people to travel on the condition that all standard operating procedures are followed,” Muhyiddin said.
