MEDIA STATEMENT: PUTRAJAYA MUST NOT RE-ASSESS THE PWC REPORT
I am extremely concerned of the news that Putrajaya is now attempting to re-assess the assumptions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) cost-benefit report by PwC.
After spending millions of taxpayers’ money to commission this PwC report and allowing more than a year of study, with countless interviews, voluminous data gathering and crunching, extensive projection modeling, to now have PM Najib question the findings is nothing short of unbelievable.
I find this attempt to re-assess the PwC report to be baseless since the report was commissioned and controlled by MITI. In fact, it was MITI that fed most of the economic data to PwC and also signed off on the assumptions and the CGE model used.
On the PwC report, I find the report to be professionally done and comprehensive without fear or favour. The report, at best, shows insignificant economic gain for Malaysia with a 30% drop in our trade balance if we sign the TPPA.
It is obvious now that this PwC conclusion does not sit well with PM Najib’s pro-TPPA stance, hence the bizarre instructions yesterday from Putrajaya to “reassess the assumptions”.
Therefore, the sudden need to investigate and re-assess the PwC assumptions is clearly motivated by politics and is a blatant attempt to white wash or damage the report. In the worst case scenario, it may be an attempt to alter the report to somehow produce a more positive economic spin for Najib.
I hence call upon all Members of Parliament, NGOs, all stakeholders, and the general public to be on alert and defend the findings of the PwC report.
YB Wong Chen Member of Parliament for Kelana Jaya 15 January 2016