Govt’s economic direction still unclear, says ex-Umno info chief

Shahril Hamdan wants the government to disclose the kind of investments it aims to attract.

PETALING JAYA: Former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan has questioned the government’s economic direction and the type of investments Anwar Ibrahim’s administration hopes to attract.

Speaking in an episode of the “Keluar Sekejap” podcast with former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, Shahril, a former economic adviser to the government, said that the country’s economic direction “is still not clear”.

“I want to know what are the sectors we want to double down on,” said Shahril.

“I want to know what are the investments we want to attract and what are the criteria.

“I think we must have (this information) within the first six months,” said Shahril, who served as an economics director in the Prime Minister’s Office during Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration.

Shahril was among those suspended for six years by Umno in January while Khairy was sacked for breaching party discipline during GE15.

Separately, Khairy claimed that there was “uncertainty” in the country due to the alleged lack of a defence and foreign policy framework.

A former youth and sports minister, Khairy also called on the government to reveal more about its plans to restructure the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programme.

“Is it really going to happen? This is important to me,” said Khairy.

In January, youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh said the ministry was looking into streamlining the TVET programme – which is currently run under multiple ministries.

Meanwhile, defence minister Mohamad Hasan yesterday said his ministry would launch the National Defence and Security Industry Policy this year to provide the defence industry with a regulatory framework.