This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on July 9, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: The Economic Action Council (EAC), chaired by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has decided that building permit approval period will be shortened to 90 days from 390 days.

“This proposal will be implemented immediately by removing unnecessary requirements, without involving amendments to existing laws,” the economic affairs ministry, which is also the secretariat to the EAC, announced in a statement following the fourth EAC meeting earlier yesterday.

The announcement came less than a month after Dr Mahathir said the government was looking at reducing the number of processes that businesses and investors need to go through to do business in Malaysia, starting with the construction sector.

At the time, Dr Mahathir had just concluded the third meeting of the 16-member EAC on June 11, during which the ease of doing business was one of its main agenda.

Yesterday, the ministry shared that the main issue discussed at the latest EAC meeting was the immediate steps that could be implemented to drive the tourism industry to stimulate the domestic economy, create more job opportunities and increase foreign exchange earnings.

Among the things that were focused on were efforts to improve tourism products, raise the quality of services, redesign marketing methods, strengthen governance, and boost domestic tourism, it said.

The Pakatan Harapan government, it highlighted, is prioritising immediate actions that can be taken to boost economic growth and ensure sustainable development so that the prosperity of the country can be enjoyed by all its people.

“The government is confident that the implementation of these immediate measures will further boost the country’s economic growth, thereby enhancing the well-being of the people for the sake of mutual prosperity,” it added.