‘Govt committed to make necessary policy changes’

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TOKYO: The government is committed to push through difficult policy changes even if they have negative repercussions politically such as higher consumer prices and transitory unemployment, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

“This is something that we have  to pursue which in the long-term,I believe is good for the country,”  he told a packed Japanese audience when opening the “Invest Malaysia 2010” seminar here yesterday.

Muhyiddin said Malaysia was determined to use the economic recovery to introduce changes necessary for future growth.

“As the global economy recovers, the political environment will be increasingly favourable for the government to make difficult but necessary economic decisions.” he said.

He said the noise from the opposition to focus public attention on relatively minor non-economic legacy issues did not distract the government from its main mission of economic reforms.

“The recent by-election wins in Galas (Kelantan) and Batu Sapi (Sabah) are a reflection of the Malaysian people’s support for  the government and  an endorsement   of our reform programmes,” he said.

At a press conference later, Muhyiddin said eventhough the transformation process would be seen by some as a “drastic big change”, one could not run from the fact that this has to be done in this current challenging world or risk being left behind and not move forward.

“In many aspects, Malaysia has already been in the forefront, like in becoming a member of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which  has opened many eyes.

This shows we are becoming a major player,” he said. — Bernama