KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 12): CGS International Securities Sdn Bhd calls for businesses to capitalise on Budget 2027’s benefits to increase investment and productivity and become globally competitive.
CEO of CGS Malaysia Khairi Shahrin Arief Baki said in a release on Monday that the current environmental and geopolitical climate, such as the conflict in West Asia and El Niño, makes business resilience an urgent priority.
“Government can set the conditions, clear the barriers and lay the foundations. Whether those foundations translate into stronger businesses, better jobs and higher income is ultimately up to companies,” he said.
Measures supporting corporate transformation in Budget 2027 include accelerated capital allowances for locally produced plant and machinery, ICT equipment and software, extended until end-2030; investment tax allowances of up to 100% for qualifying green technology projects and assets; and support for MSMEs adopting AI and automation.
Further, Khairi Shahrin highlighted the government's move to raise the minimum wage from RM1,700 to RM2,000 as a sign that the old model of low wages and low productivity is becoming outdated.
“A higher wage floor is not merely a higher cost of doing business. It tells companies that the low-wage, low-productivity model is running out of road. The way forward is to invest in skills, technology, automation and better-designed jobs, so that higher wages rest on higher productivity,” Khairi Shahrin said.
Productivity without better wages leaves households "outside the gains of growth" while wages without productivity cannot hold, he said.
Businesses need to invest in skills, technology, automation, and better-designed jobs so that these higher wages are made alongside higher productivity, he added.
This same logic applies to sustainability, he added, as stronger green investment incentives and carbon pricing are also on the policy agenda.
“Carbon pricing is becoming part of Malaysia’s business landscape. Companies can treat it as a compliance issue, or as a reason to become more efficient and more resilient. Sustainability done well can be a source of productivity, resilience and long-term value," he said.
"Budget 2027 supplies many of the enabling conditions for transformation... The prize is a virtuous cycle: stronger companies, better jobs and wages, sustainable returns for investors, and a deeper capital market ready to finance the next generation of growth.
"When Corporate Malaysia creates value sustainably, those gains can extend beyond shareholders to workers, communities and the wider economy,” he added.