The Economic Development Review Committee (EDRC) was held at the OECD on 19-20 July 2016 in order to further discuss the elements in the Economic Assessment on Malaysia that is slated to be published in September 2016 in Kuala Lumpur. YBhg. Datuk Seri Dr. Rahamat Bivi Yusoff, Director General of the Economic Planning Unit (DS DG EPU) who led the team to Paris made a courtesy call on YBhg. Dato’ Ibrahim Abdullah, Ambassador of Malaysia to Paris on 18 July 2016. A dinner in honour of DS DG EPU was then hosted by Ambassador on the same day.
During the EDRC meeting, Malaysia was praised for its accomplishments over the last 40 years including the evolution of the inclusiveness policy in Malaysia that focuses on empowering the bottom 40. The meeting also acknowledged there are lessons in the Malaysian practice of Islamic finance for advanced countries that rely on debt finance which is the Achilles heel of their systems. There was also an in depth dialogue on green growth, boosting productivity to escape the middle income trap, improving quality of education, strengthening innovation, and public sector productivity.
