Guan Eng moots MSME relief, education reform in letter to Anwar

PUTRAJAYA, July 24 — Former minister Lim Guan Eng has presented a strategic roadmap to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, outlining six critical interventions designed to safeguard the wellbeing of the people and drive Malaysia’s future economic progress.

Underpinning the proposal is a call for urgent financial relief for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Lim urged the government to elevate the e-invoicing threshold to businesses with an annual revenue of RM5 million and to establish a Special Taxpayer Tribunal specifically for individuals and MSMEs.

To further ease the burden on small business owners, Lim proposed scrapping the employer’s two per cent EPF contribution for foreign workers and implementing a one-year interest payment moratorium on existing financial and bank loans.

“The banking industry should extend a helping hand to its MSME customers, who have all along generated substantial profits for them,” he said in a letter to Anwar dated July 20.

The urgency of these measures is underscored by the challenges currently facing the MSME sector, including the fallout from the Middle East war, rising oil prices, and a surge of cheap imported goods.

With MSMEs contributing 38 per cent to Malaysia’s GDP and generating 48 per cent of national employment, Lim warned that their stability is vital to the nation’s economic health.

Beyond financial relief, Lim called for a digital overhaul of foreign worker processing. He proposed that the government increase and simplify the intake of workers through comprehensive online procedures, including conducting employer interviews virtually to bolster efficiency and curb corruption.

In a separate but equally critical proposal, Lim addressed the systemic inequality in Malaysia’s higher education system. He urged the government to replace the current fragmented approach to university admissions with a single, standardised public entrance examination.

He argued that the current reliance on three different pathways, namely STPM, Asasi, and Matriculation, creates an unfair environment.

“The time has come to have one common public university entrance examination system for all, rather than the current situation of ‘one country, three systems,’” Lim said.

By combining targeted financial relief, administrative modernisation, and educational equity, Lim said Malaysia could build a more resilient economy where every business and student has a fair opportunity to succeed.