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STATEMENT BY
MS. AIDA SAFURA NIZA OTHMAN
ADVISER

 THE PERMANENT MISSION OF MALAYSIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS

 

AT THE SECOND COMMITTEE

AGENDA ITEM 18: MACROECONOMIC POLICY QUESTIONS

AND

AGENDA ITEM 19: FOLLOW-UP TO AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OUTCOMES OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT

 

 

Madam Chair,

 

Malaysia aligns itself with the statements delivered by Guinea on behalf of the G77 and China as well as Indonesia on behalf of ASEAN.

 

2.     Malaysia would like to thank the Secretary-General for his reports under these agenda items. The reports show how COVID-19 has eroded decades of socio-economic gains and reversed progress made towards achieving the SDGs. Even more concerning, the UNDP has estimated that the pandemic could increase the number of people living in extreme poverty to over 1 billion by 2030.

 

3.     Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Malaysia has introduced several economic stimulus packages to cushion the impacts of the pandemic on the livelihoods of the people as well as businesses. These measures have widened our fiscal deficit and raised our national debt to GDP. However, these measures had to be carried out, and we are pleased that our efforts have successfully stabilised the economy. Our GDP has rebounded by 16.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2021.

 

4.     We are confident that the recently approved 12th Malaysia Plan will complement the National Recovery Plan towards restoring economic growth and supporting our long-term development goals. The strategies and initiatives in the 12th Malaysia Plan are aligned to the 2030 Agenda.

 

5.     Malaysia also recognises that bold reforms are needed for a resilient recovery. The National Investment Aspirations (NIA) policy will be the main framework to attract quality FDIs into the country, including advanced technology-based investments which conform to environmental sustainability. This, in turn will support our aspiration to accelerate the transition towards an advanced manufacturing-based industry without compromising the environment.

 

Madam Chair,

 

6.     The pandemic has further widened the inequality between richer and low-income countries. In this context, Malaysia supports the call for the G20 to extend its Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). Besides safeguarding the livelihoods of the people, such initiatives would grant the borrower-countries the fiscal space to invest in their pandemic recovery and resume progress in implementing the SDGs. Malaysia is also of the view that a holistic approach through the establishment of partnerships with the private sector is vital to execute options such as debt restructuring, cancellation and suspension.

 

7.     Malaysia firmly believes that protectionism is counter-productive to the global recovery efforts. We support initiatives that further enhance trade liberalisation to spur faster economic growth inter-alia through greater market access as well as unlimited circulation of knowledge and technology. In this context, Malaysia will work towards greater trade cooperation through ratification of new FTAs with strategic partners.

 

8.     As reported by the Secretary-General in his International Trade and Development report, certain existing trade rules have proven to be restrictive towards tackling global supply shortages. This has hindered countries from procuring essential goods, in particular medical goods and vaccine materials, which has resulted in hampered recovery efforts. Malaysia deems that reform in areas such as export restrictions are required especially in times of an unprecedented global health crisis. In this regard, Malaysia echoes the call for temporary waiver on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to increase global production of vaccines.

 

9.     In conclusion, we have learned that the pandemic demands a highly-integrated economy with minimum restrictions among trading partners. It is also important that countries review their economic model with a view to enhancing self-sufficiency, in order to improve resiliency and prepare for possible future pandemics.

 

With that Madam Chair, I thank you.