The Dewan Negara today passed three bills namely the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Bill 2016, Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Bill 2016 and the Finance Bill 2016.

The AIIB bill, tabled by Deputy Minister of Finance, Datuk Lee Chee Leong, would enable Malaysia to submit rectification instruments before December 31.

It would also allow the subscription payments to be made as a precondition to become a full member of AIIB and the purchase of the AIIB shares.

When winding-up the debate, Lee said AIIB would ensure that Malaysia's interests would be preserved, especially regarding the bilateral relationship between Malaysia and countries in Asia.

"It will show Malaysia's commitment and concern towards the international efforts in economic cooperation and reflect the country's noble intentions in helping its neighbours in the Asia and Pacific region in line with the South-South cooperation policy."

The Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Bill 2016 aimsdc to make it compulsory for any physical development plan to get the advice of the National Physical Planning Council (NPPC).

Deputy Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing, and Local Government, Datuk Halimah Mohamed Sadique said the amendments would allow major projects to be discussed by NPPC and thus would see better federal-state coordination.

Halimah added the bill would require a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) to be conducted which would benefit the public.

"This is to ensure that problems and public protests at implementation stage will be given early attention and gathered for a collective decision," she said when winding up the bill.

The Finance Bill 2016 tabled by Deputy Minister of Finance, Datuk Othman Aziz was to enable the implementation of taxation measures as announced in the 2017 Budget.

All three bills were passed unanimously. The Dewan Negara will sit again on Monday. - BERNAMA