Taking a leaf out of Britain's book

Malaysia must be careful not to delay on green technology plans like Britain did as it would only risk green technology investments going to other markets.

Montague Street in London's quieter West End is lined with 18th century townhouse boutique hotels.

Except for the settings, the splendour of the Georgian architecture is lost on you as the front desk of most of these hotels is manned by staff from Europe (mostly East European) and Asia. Count yourself lucky if your English is understood or vice versa.

But this scene is atypical in almost all parts of Britain's services industry even though the government is in the midst of tightening its family immigration laws as it figures how to configure its migrant workers into the British society.

On the other front, unemployment levels have risen to its highest in two years with the highest female unemployment and it is also estimated that a fifth of the youths (under 25) is currently out of work, many of whom are also unskilled and inexperienced.

Job creation is the main debate topic as Prime Minister David Cameron is challenged on his tack of cutting jobs in the public sector, which has not yielded the desired results of creating jobs in the private sector.

And now the unions have planned its biggest industrial action in decades (since 1920s) on November 30, to get the government to relook at its decision on the public sector pension reforms.

Three million people could take part, bringing the nation to grinding halt!

With higher inflation levels against a stagnant economy, Britain already fears slipping into another catastrophic recession as the fate of the euro hangs in the balance due to the continued financial instability in euroland.

The International Monetary Fund's managing director Christine Lagarde has warned Britain to prepare for a prolonged period of weak growth and high unemployment.

Britain, which has one of the biggest budget deficits in the world, larger than that of ailing Greece's, has decided that it shall not "sit on its hands" but go ahead with its 40 hand-picked projects - a move to ensure that its growth engines are fired up.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was also quoted as saying that Whitehall also has its foot on the accelerator, making sure "no one is stockpiling capital that can be put to good use today" to fund infrastructure.

Roads and rail, better broadband, renewable energy and low-carbon industries, said Clegg, can stimulate economic activities while systems can also be built for high-growth industries for the long term.

Malaysia could also take a leaf out of Clegg's remarks as treasury officials in Putrajaya have also made similar comments that many government departments have not proceeded on the approved development projects, preferring to sit on their hands.

All quarters must play a part in ensuring the economy continues its growth path during these challenging times, more so when Malaysia is ensconced within a vibrant growth region.

Last week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak expressed his concern over the slow flow of domestic investments, which was far below the targeted RM94 billion annually, risking Malaysia's efforts to meet its high income and developed nation status in nine years.

For the first seven months, domestic direct investments (DDI) totalled RM26.9 billion only, an indication of the cautious stance of the investing community as it weighed global uncertainties.

The Economic Transformation Programme aims to reverse the foreign direct investment (FDI):DDI ratio which stood at 60:40 and increase the contribution from DDI to 73 per cent.

There is also wide and diverse range of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to attract quality DDIs to capital intensive, high technology industries and to the creative and knowledge-based industries.

Support and high-impact funding is being extended to the halal industry, green energy, biotechnology, aerospace, advanced electronics, the pharmaceutical and medical devices industry and the maintenance-repair-overhaul engineering industry.

Malaysia must be careful not to delay on green technology plans like Britain did when Cameron's government came on board as it would only risk green technology investments going to other markets.