A Focus Group Discussion (FGD) for Budget 2020
An FGD jointly chaired by the Minister of Finance (MOF) and the Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change and organised by Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) was held to enable stakeholders to share their views and inputs in formulating the nation’s budget for the following year.
Following the 2020 Budget Consultation on 27th June 2019 the MOF will be convening a series of 12 focus group meetings with pertinent stakeholders comprising Government agencies, the industry, academia and NGOs. These focus group meetings are intended to gather views and recommendations on specific topics to be translated into measures and strategies for the 2020 Budget, which will be tabled in Parliament on 11th October 2019.
This is the first time the MOF has adopted a more collaborative budget preparation process. Whereas previously the said Ministry organised all focus group discussions alone, this time around we are working with other ministries to come up with a more inclusive budget.
“Environmental protection is also an agenda that is gaining global attention especially when the world is threatened by climate change disasters. Conglomerates like SAMSUNG and Apple have imposed environmental sustainability requirements on their suppliers. Even our major commodity exports of palm oil are also threatened by environmental causes,” said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng in his opening address.
Among the topics discussed was the Pasir Gudang pollution crisis which Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin assured that the government was serious about formulating a holistic solution to overcome the issue.
The Ministers also shared their views on tax incentives given for green initiatives and some of the proposed reviews and extensions to be considered before tabling the 2020 budget.
