Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan

Tan Sri Dr. Sulaiman MahbobTo say that we were not exposed to competition and liberalisationis to deny our economic history. Some people may question whyso much emphasis is being given to the high-income economic modelby the new administration. Others question why we should furtherliberalise the economy.There are also a few who think that liberalisation is against the spirit of distribution.It is as though economic and social developments are mutually exclusive.In fact, social development and economic development complement one another.Economic development provides the wherewithal (income, employment andbusiness opportunities, etc.) for a morerapid social development to take place.In simplistic terms, an increase in output (asthe economic growth is measured) allowsthe economic pie to be shared by everyonewith each having an increased share. This isbetter than having an increased share butfrom a smaller pie.In real life, however, this may not necessarilybe the case. The pie may expand but theshares of some groups may diminish,depending on factors such as ownership anddistribution of assets and capital, as well asaccess to education and training facilities.Herein lies the role of policy intervention.The wealth creation processes predicatedupon market efficiency alone cannot ensurean equitable sharing of the benefits ofeconomic growth. If indeed it does, it maytake a long time as experienced by manydeveloped countries.Herein lies the role ofpolicy intervention. Thewealth creation processespredicated upon marketefficiency alone cannotensure an equitablesharing of the benefitsof economic growth. Ifindeed it does, it may takea long time as experiencedby many developedcountries.In promoting rapid economic growth, the issue of liberalisation and competitioncannot be sidelined. We always encounter it. The question is how we manage it. Forresources to be translated into productive capital, a liberal environment is essentialto mobilise the savings; to allow private entrepreneurship to flourish, be it fromdomestic sources or from overseas; and to allow free and efficient movement ofgoods and services as well as of labour and talent. Historically, Malaysia (Malayathen) had benefited from inflows of capital and labour into the rubber and tin41