KUALA LUMPUR: Among the crucial factors for Malaysia to achieve the status of a developed country instead of merely a high-income nation by 2020 involve the structure of the economy and labour market, said an economist. “What’s important is the structure of the economy and labour market, whether we are high-skilled labour, high productivity, or high wage country,” said former senior lecturer, Department of Development Studies, Universiti Malaya, Lee Hwok Aun. He pointed out that a high-income nation referred to the gross national income per capita which was unnecessarily related to high wages. And currently, the minimum hourly wage in the country stands at below RM5 per hour, which is still very low, he told Bernama on the sidelines of the Malaysian Capitalism Conference. “We need to shift our focus on promoting high hourly wages and high hourly productivity in order to achieve the status of a developed country,” he said.

Source: The Star November 08, 2016 23:31 UTC