At The Occasion Of Pemudah Dinner With Y.A.B. Perdana Menteri

Bismillahir rahmanir rahim

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Yang Amat Berhormat Dato’ Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi,
The Prime Minister of Malaysia

Y. Bhg. Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon, Immediate Past President of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, Co-Chair of PEMUDAH and Puan Sri Yong;

Y. Bhg. Tan Sri/Puan Sri, Dato’-Dato’/Datin-Datin,

Distinguished Members of PEMUDAH,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me begin by thanking Y.A.B. Dato’ Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, for graciously accepting our invitation to share this evening with members of PEMUDAH and spouses. It is indeed a great honour for all of us that YAB Perdana Menteri has made time to be with us despite his very very tight schedule.

2. Your presence here this evening, reflects your continued support for the work that PEMUDAH is doing. For this, we are truly appreciative.

3. YAB Dato’ Seri, allow me to take this opportunity, on behalf of all PEMUDAH members, to thank you very much for the trust and encouragement you gave us. We know that we could not have embarked on the initiatives and changes, had it not been for your support. In fact your foresight for having set up PEMUDAH, even before the global economic crisis, which now makes this effort even more imperative, speaks volumes of your passion for an effective public delivery system. For no country can be globally competitive if there are inherent weaknesses in its public delivery system. PEMUDAH members are proud to have had the honour to respond to your urgings, and we hope we had acquitted ourselves well – and we will continue to contribute improving Malaysia’s business environment, Insya Alah.

Y.A.B. Dato’ Seri,

4. As we briefed you on Wednesday, 25th February 2009, we are not wavering in our commitment. On the contrary we are working even more closely with members of the public sector as well as with the corporate sector to address issues which were on the back burner, even as we intensify our engagement in areas that require more deliberation, areas such as Government Procurement and the review of the role and functions of the FIC.

5. Over the past three months we have made good progress in our review of the Malaysia My Second Home Programme and have begun to also make progress in addressing concerns over abandoned housing and taxi service. The Focus Group on Registering Property and the Task Force on DBKL have been actively engaged and should be producing outcomes that we hope will see great improvements that you are so passionate about.

Y.A.B. Dato’ Seri,

6. We are well aware of the challenges that we are facing as a country. The imperative before us must be to continue this public-private sector engagement, building on the trust and camaraderie that we have developed over the past 26 months, which I must add, you greatly encouraged. This will enable us to contribute more significantly in the implementation of measures to overcome the current economic challenges. These, PEMUDAH will do through constructive feedback and proposals.

Y.A.B. Dato’ Seri,

7. I am sure I reflect truly and fully the sentiments of PEMUDAH members, if I were to say that our contributions, PEMUDAH contributions, which you so often publicly acknowledged and which humbled us, are greatly attributed to you. For that we thank you. Of course, it would be remiss of me not to take this opportunity to thank Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon, and each and every member of PEMUDAH for their dedication and contribution for free, as well as the secretariat. But the challenges before us are many. I assure you, Dato’ Seri, that you can count on PEMUDAH’s continued commitment to work towards delivering the goal that you set for us, i.e. to make Malaysia the 10th most competitive country in the world.

Y.A.B. Dato’ Seri, once again allow me to thank you very much for graciously accepting our invitation to be with us tonight.

It is my pleasure now to call upon Y.A.B. Dato’ Seri to address us.