Productivity over populism — the way to a better future - video Dailymotion

Free Malaysia Today

The government is prioritising digitalisation and automation over handouts and artificial pay increases to raise living standards.   Read More:  https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/11/05/productivity-over-populism-the-way-to-a-better-future   Laporan Lanjut:  https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/tempatan/2025/11/05/produktiviti-atasi-populisme-jalan-menuju-masa-depan-lebih-baik   Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com  Follow FMT on Facebook: https://bit.ly/49JJoo5  Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM  Follow FMT on X: https://bit.ly/48zARSW  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/48Cq76h  Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3uKuQFp  Follow FMT Berita on TikTok: https://bit.ly/48vpnQG  Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/42VyzMX  Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/42YytEb  Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/42WrsUj  Follow FMT on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/49GMbxW  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Download FMT News App:  Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46  App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ  Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP   #FMTNews

Transcript

00:01Malaysia's long-term answer to stagnant wages is to raise productivity,

00:04not one-off handouts or artificial pay hikes.

00:09Finance Ministry Secretary-General Johan Mahmoud Merikan

00:12says that while raising the minimum wage can help,

00:14the real driver of higher pay is creating high-value jobs

00:17through innovation and technology.

00:19That's part of the effort on both digitalisation and automation and mechanisation,

00:23which will hopefully raise productivity, and with that, higher wages.

00:27He explained that under budget 2026,

00:29SMEs will be able to tap matching grants of up to RM5,000

00:32to adopt digital tools like accounting software,

00:35point-of-sale systems, and e-commerce platforms.

00:38This push has already transformed many traditional businesses,

00:41making cashless payments and digital transactions the norm.

00:45These are sort of things to promote the SMEs to move up.

00:48And we've seen some successes as you, you know, in terms of cashless, you know.

00:53Once upon a time, we were very predominantly cashed,

00:55not even at Ngurai Kichogun who uses QR code for payment.

00:59In agriculture, new automation incentives are helping address productivity bottlenecks and labour shortages.

01:05Tools like drones for fertilising and spraying are making the sector more attractive to locals,

01:10who can now work as drone pilots or machine technicians.

01:13When we then have solutions such as that becoming more and more widespread,

01:20not only does it reduce the dependency on foreign labour,

01:24but it becomes a lot more credible to attract and retain Malaysian workers.

01:29Meanwhile, the government is encouraging GLCs to set benchmarks for living wages in the hopes the wider private sector will follow suit.

01:36Johan stressed that these strategies complement near-term support for households,

01:41but the ultimate goal is an economy where innovation-led firms and skilled Malaysians lift income organically.

01:47Imran Arif, FMT

Productivity over populism — the way to a better future

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