Govt Aims To Table Anti-Rent-Seeking Bill By 2027

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 (Bernama) -- The government aims to draft new legislation or amend related laws to address rent-seeking, or “Alibaba” practices, and will aim to table the bill in Parliament in 2027, said Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir.

He said studies are underway to assess the need to establish a regulatory and legal framework that defines these practices as offences, since selling licenses or “Alibaba” practices is not currently defined as a crime.

“The challenge is that at present, the sale of licenses or Alibaba activities are not categorised as a criminal offence.

“Therefore, we need to assess that anti-rent-seeking is a very important act to enable these practices to be defined as offences,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat during today’s question-and-answer session.

He was responding to a supplementary question from Salamiah Mohd Nor (PN-Temerloh) on the government’s steps to close rent-seeking channels and the effectiveness of the related act in addressing corruption among civil servants and politicians.

Earlier, replying to Syahredzan Johan (PH-Bangi) on the progress of drafting anti-rent-seeking legislation and the timeline for tabling it in Parliament, Akmal Nasrullah said the study took into account the views of industry players, enforcement agencies, relevant ministries, state governments, and other stakeholders.

He said the scope of the regulatory proposal includes the development of policies, strategies, and initiatives that are more comprehensive to address the practice effectively.

He said the legislative drafting process requires in-depth examination to ensure each proposal is practical and implementable.

Elaborating, Akmal Nasrullah said that rent-seeking, even when voluntary and mutually agreed, can weaken the capabilities and undermine the competitiveness of local businesses, while not reflecting the true strength of the market and the abilities of local traders.

“The government is committed to eradicating rent-seeking because it can affect market efficiency, create unfair competition, and hinder the country’s productivity growth,” he said.

According to Akmal Nasrullah, the Ministry of Economy’s studies found that rent-seeking can erode the country’s socio-economic efficiency by leaking licenses, contracts, facilities, and so on.

-- BERNAMA