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| Datuk Saifuddin & Dr Jun |
Malaysian Network for Community Economy including GMM & COMMACT Malaysia hosted a discussion on Dec 5, 2014 on the theme of fostering a people economy.
The discussion was
moderated by Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah (Chairperson of the network) and input
from resources persons like Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria, Dr Hezri Adnan, Dr
June-E Tan, Dr Muhammed Abdul Khalid and Dr Lin Mui Kiang.
The discussion recognised
that Prime Minister Najib in his 2015 Budget Speech has rightly highlighted a
dual approach for economic management namely” a capital economy” and “a people
economy”. There is therefore a need to foster a clearer understanding of the
people economy and note its potential and implications at the national, Asean
and global levels for sustainable development and overall improvement in the
lives of ordinary people.
Contemporary
Analysis
We noted that the public
policy thrust was towards big business and growing the economy from a very
strong market oriented growth with equity. While this approach has addressed
poverty reduction, it has however resulted in increased inequalities within and
among the various communities in Malaysia. The current levels of inequality and
the issues faced by the poor especially low income families is effecting their
capacity and capability to enjoy a better quality of life in Malaysian society.
We note that there are many structural issues which need addressing and
therefore a micro and individual project approach will not resolve the current
issues faced by the grassroots.
We understood that our
development policies and approaches have not given adequate emphasis on
sustainable development especially in the way we have managed our environment
and natural resources. The impact of these are revealed in disasters as in
Cameron Highlands, Tasik Chini and the unsustainable use of the forest
resources which has also impacted the Orang Asli and the natives of Sabah and
Sarawak especially those forest based communities.
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| Dr Hezri (ISIS) |
We recognised that the
many initiatives by the Federal, State and local governments in addressing
socio-economic development of the bottom 40%, however many of these have not
built a self-reliant and resilient community but a ‘subsidy driven-dependent
society’ which is impacting their ability to compete in the open market.
We also recognised that
many of the development initiatives such as micro credit has not enabled the
poor and low income families to graduate from subsided loans into commercial
financial institutions. We also noted that there were high rates of defaults
and non-performing loans which has disempowered micro and informal business. We
were told that the poor and low income were playing higher interest rates for
micro loans and hire purchase due to the longer repayment rates. Furthermore
higher personal income tax as compared to higher income groups in terms of
assets taxes (property & shares).
We noted that there is a
sizable social economy sector which has not been adequately recognised
especially the transactions made and the social contributions of micro finance
institutions, cooperative based businesses, informal sector, income generating
projects of the voluntary sector (recycling), private sector driven CSR
income generating initiatives, and alternative financial initiatives such as Ar
Rahnu or Islamic pawn broking is now popular among all communities.
We recognise young people
are tapping the potential of social enterprises and social entrepreneurship
projects in developing business solutions in addressing social, environmental
and community problems in a sustainable way. This needs to be encouraged and
developed further.
We noted the potential at
the grassroots based on the thesis of ‘wealth at the bottom of the pyramid’. We
need to build on this potential especially the good and services needed at this
level to tap into the potential for local markets and small town developments.
We recognise the need to
foster a stronger community, solidarity or collective oriented approaches which
is bottom up in addressing social, environmental and economic development.
There is a need to
develop empowering approaches which builds self-reliance and self-help through
government intervention and policies in fostering people centred development.
Global
policy towards Sustainable Development Goals
We reviewed briefly a
number of global discussions and documents leading to 2015 and beyond.
We noted the thrust of the
Rio+20 document entitled “The Future we Want” (June 2012), The New Global
Partnership document (May 2013, report of the High level panel), the Open
Working Group for Sustainable Development Goals (July 2014) and the UN
Secretary General’s Synthesis Report (Dec 2014) entitled “The Road to Dignity
by 2030”
In all these documents
there is a stronger call towards a sustainable development framework which
adopts a human rights approach to development and which gives adequate emphasis
towards economic, social and environmental concerns with a strong commitment
for participation of people in governance through public participation in
decision making.
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| Dr Muhamad, Andrew and Richrad |
The proposed 17 Sustainable Development Goals with 169 targets needs further study and application in the Malaysian and Asean context. These goals and targets moves beyond the MDGs and therefore provides an ideal policy framework for the development of a people economy in Malaysia.
We recognise that the UN
established an Inter-Agency TaskForce on Social & Solidarity Economy
(TFSSE) on Sept. 30, 2013. This is in the right step forward in recognising the
potential of SSE in achieving sustainable development. This also enables
Malaysia and other Asean countries to fully recognise the potential social
economy in generating sustainable wealth and human wellbeing.
Specific
Recommendations
We call on the Federal
Government to establish a special Taskforce on Social Economy which will review
all the current policies, programs, funding and initiatives and direct these
towards an empowering and people centred approach which is sustainable. This
can become the second generational policies and programmes in Malaysia in 2015
and beyond.
We call on the Federal
Government to recognise this sector as a potential for growth and development
in the Eleventh Malaysia Plan (2016 -2020) where there is a place for social,
solidarity economy as a policy thrust and guiding principle for sustainable
development.
We call on the Government
of Malaysia to adopt a human rights approach for sustainable development with
people and the environment at the heart of development including strengthening
the institutional features for compliance, monitoring, impact assessment and implementation.
We call of the Prime
Minister who is the Chair for ASEAN in 2015 to use his chair to promote a
people economy through Social Solidarity Economy for Asean which will address
the shortfalls and weakness of the current for profit and market oriented
approaches towards justice and equity.
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Jointly issued by Datuk
Saifuddin Abdullah (Chairman), Prof Datuk Yusof Kassim (Vice Chairman) and
Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria (Secretary), Malaysian Network for Community
Economy
Dec 7, 2014
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