MPC continues to improve efficiency of regulatory delivery in dealing with construction permits

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) is committed to enhance the efficiency of regulatory delivery in dealing with construction permits (DCP) to affect Malaysia’s competitive advantage and ease of doing business.

MPC director-general Datuk Abdul Latif Abu Seman said in a statement today that the outcome is expected to contribute to more foreign direct investment (FDI) into Malaysia.

"One of the strengths Malaysia has to attract more

FDI into the country is in the aspect of dealing with construction permits where we have shown an impressive improvement in terms of ranking for the indicator, according to the World Bank’s Doing Business Report which compares 190 economies globally," he said.

Malaysia was ranked at 137th position when the indicator was introduced in 2007.

Over six years, Malaysia had improved its ranking to double digits in 2013 and impressively in recent years, the ranking moved to No. 3 in 2019 and No. 2 in 2020 among 190 economies.

"This gives our country the competitive advantage. Yet, still, a lot must be done to improve the efficiency of regulatory delivery in DCP," he said.

Abdul Latif said MPC is committed to increase the efficiency of regulatory delivery in DCP and confirmed that MPC is holding a workshop on the subject to identify the root causes of issues in regulatory delivery in DCP and develop solutions as well as action plans in managing the challenges.

The workshop will be conducted on Feb 8 and attended by related stakeholders from the public and private sectors and it will be facilitated by PEMUDAH (the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business) through its technical working group on DCP.

PEMUDAH co-chair Datuk Dr Andy K.H. Seo said the workshop will be attended by relevant government bodies, industry players and technical agencies with the aim of finding the best solutions to the challenges faced by the business community.

“We hope to focus, among others, on the inconsistencies between regulations and practice in obtaining construction permits approval, the confusing procedures of open space ratio requirements and issues on centralised labour quarters.

"In the end, we intend to produce a proposal on implementable solutions to ensure a seamless mechanism from the application until the commencement of construction work," he added.