FMM In The News: THE EDGE MARKETS, KUALA LUMPUR, Friday, February 24, 2023 - The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) said that the revised Budget 2023 tabled on Friday (Feb 24) by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim lacked support for the manufacturing industry.

“We are disappointed that Budget 2023 has not provided any assistance to support trade for industries to expand their market access as many face severe impact to their existing markets due to the prolonged Ukraine-Russia conflict,” said FMM president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai in a statement.

He also added that the government did not take up FMM’s proposal to channel the foreign worker levy towards a National TVET Apprenticeship Fund and National Automation Fund to reduce dependency on foreign workers.

Nevertheless, he welcomed the government’s support in several areas including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Industry 4.0, green practices in businesses, technology investments, human capital initiatives and the Government Procurement Act.

“On the GST (Goods and Services Tax), while it is a broad and effective tool to generate more government revenue, FMM agrees with the assessment that the timing is not right for its reintroduction, given its inflationary implications and the likely burden on the lower-income groups,” said Soh but urged the government to consider a reintroduction in 2024.

“Hence, FMM applauds the government for unveiling a caring budget with a larger allocation of RM388 billion by striking a fine balance between fiscal discipline and helping the rakyat to cope with the rising cost of living,” added Soh.

The government targets several companies especially government-linked companies (GLCs) to take over technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions such as community college, public skills development institutions (ILAs) and Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara (IKBN) to improve TVET training based on the model used by the Penang Skills Development Centre.