“I will invite Chinese companies to invest in productive capacities using Malaysian labour and resources,” he told reporters after chairing the PPBM meeting at the party’s headquarters here this evening.
He also said that he will be following up on former finance minister Daim Zainuddin’s trip to the republic recently. He said Daim had visited China to discuss contracts awarded by the previous administration.
“The fact is that Malaysia does not have the money. We cannot afford to borrow too much money. We’re trying to reduce the amount of money we borrowed, otherwise the country can go bankrupt.
“That is the main subject we’re going to talk about,” he said.
Since Mahathir took office, the new government has suspended major China-led infrastructure projects in Malaysia.
Mahathir is expected to raise the issue of the terms of the contract for the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project and the loan involved.
Daim, who heads the Council of Eminent Persons, recently delivered a letter from Mahathir to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at a meeting in Beijing two days ago.
At today’s press conference, Mahathir also spoke on other issues:
Choosing of leaders in PPBM at the division and central level
We have developed certain methods which I cannot disclose, but these methods will give opportunities to all members to choose leaders.
Change of PPBM name
We have decided to use the name Bersatu as our name and slogan, instead of PPBM. In the past, we were unable to do this due to objections from the authorities. Now we are in power.
Disciplinary action against saboteurs
We have taken action against those who helped other parties and sabotaged us in GE14. Won’t reveal names but includes those who held media conferences to smear the party’s name.
Sales and services tax (SST)
The SST doesn’t burden people as much. This can be seen from the amount of revenue collected by the government.
The people save RM20 billion. The claims that SST will increase prices are baseless. SST is not taxed at 16%. Some items are not SST-taxable and there are items taxed at only 5% and 10%; it depends on the items.
We have announced that many items formerly subject to GST (goods and services tax) are now not subject to SST. This means people will bear a lesser burden.
Big-ticket items exempt from SST?
Many items aren’t purchased for consumption; this is something that will be used to generate wealth. So there is no necessity to tax those people.
Jho Low arrested?
I heard the news that he has been arrested. But I have not received any information on Jho Low. It could be fake news.
20% payment to oil-producing states. Royalty or profits?
Royalty is from profits. If we make RM100 million, then RM20 million is the royalty. It is based on the profit made by Petronas in that area. What we collect from (oil) in Terengganu, we will not pay to Sarawak or Sabah.