No double dip, says Nor Mohamed

The country is unlikely to face a double-dip recession as both the local and regional markets are doing well, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop.

“We will not face a double-dip recession. The economy is doing well and the regional economy is doing well. China is doing well... India is catching up very fast. Vietnam and Indonesia are doing well. The regional economies are doing well. Commodities prices are good.

“In the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP), we said we want to drive our economy through domestic strength and we certainly don’t see a double-dip recession on the horizon,” said Nor Mohamed after launching a Population and Housing Census here yesterday.

The government is spending RM200 million on its fifth census exercise with 29,000 temporary staff. The six-week census started yesterday and ends on Aug 22 and the preliminary results will be available in November.

Asked to comment on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s comment that the economy could slow down in the second half of the year, Nor Mohamed, who is in charge of the Economic Planning Unit, said the country was on track to achieve the government’s targeted 6% growth.

“All indications are that we will be on target for 6%. Basically in terms of the mechanics, the second quarter may be less but the 6% has already taken into account that the second quarter may not be as good as the first quarter.

“PM knows that the 6% will be on target,” he said, adding that the government was in the midst of planning for projects under the 10MP to be tendered out.
Nor Mohamed said the government’s proposed Talent Corporation, under the purview of the prime minister, is aimed at luring 700,000 Malaysians abroad back to serve the country.

“One thing that we need very urgently is the skill. We will develop our own skill. We will get the diasporas and if we can’t get the diasporas and can’t develop in time, we will also make our immigration easier for foreigners to choose Malaysia as a place they want to work in,” said Nor Mohamed.

He said the government was focused on achieving the 6% growth target for the next five years. “For that we need RM115 billion investment every year for at least five years. To get that amount, we found out that the most important thing the investors want is skilled workers,” said Nor Mohamed.




This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, July 7, 2010.