Bleak economic future for Malaysia if Pakatan wins GE

The country will face a bleak economic future if progressive projects with potential for raising the country's income such as the Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated Development (RAPID) project is cast aside, which is what the opposition is promising to do if it wins the upcoming general election.

Chairman of UDA Holdings Bhd Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said if the projects, which will generate income for the country, are cancelled in the interest of politics, it will upset the country's financial position and bring an economic downturn.

The move to cancel the high economic impact projects will also undermine the confidence of local and foreign investors, causing them to leave Malaysia and search new investment destinations.

"I feel the country's economic future will be very bleak if the opposition wins the General Election considering that that is the recipe they have in their manifesto, which is to cancel off any projects that would bring revenue to the country such as the RAPID.

"It is clear that if the opposition takes over the country, they will destroy the country's economy," Nur Jazlan, who is also Member Parliament for Pulai, told Bernama in an interview.

Opposition leaders have said they will cancel the RAPID project if they win the elections.

Nur Jazlan said their move to stop the government's efforts to raise the country's income through strategic economic projects will only negatively impact the economy.

National oil and gas company, Petronas has indicated its preparedness to invest RM60 billion for the implementation of RAPID, which is expected to begin commissioning in 2016.

The RAPID project is part of the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC), which is set to establish Malaysia as an oil and gas hub in the region.

Besides Petronas, Dialog Bhd and Royal Vopak also plan to build an independent deepwater petroleum terminal in Pengerang worth RM5 billion which will be part of the PIPC.

Dialog and Royal Vopak are also planning on investing RM4 billion to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in PIPC.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak while at the World Economic Forum in Davos recently had also announced that international companies Itochu Steel Industry and Evonik AG were planning on investing billions of ringgit in the RAPID project.

Nur Jazlan also said that the country's finances will be in further dire straits if the opposition's plan to write off the loans taken by borrowers under the PTPTN higher education loan fund is implemented.

Erasing the loans will only increase the government's expenditure and jeopordise its overall financial position.

"If they (opposition) do not want the government's revenue to go up and at the same time want to increase their expenditure (writing off the PTPTN debts), this will ultimately only raise the burden of the government and destroy the country's economy."