The Public Administration Efficiency Obligation Act is currently in its final draft stage and is expected to be gazetted by the end of this year.
Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Sanusi Azri, said the Act is one of the government's efforts to improve Malaysia's ranking in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by comprehensively improving government administration processes.
On Sunday (February 16), after participating in the recording of the "Narrative Interview" (Bicara Naratif) program at the Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) News Building, he told reporters: “The Attorney General's Department is currently reviewing the final draft of the Act, and our target is to gazette it by the end of this year.”
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar proposed the 2025 Budget last year, expressing the Unity Government's determination to implement public service reforms, adhere to good governance principles, and enhance productivity. The proposed Public Administration Efficiency Obligation Act will cover three major transformations, namely reducing bureaucracy, accelerating processes, and improving service efficiency.
The public service reform agenda focuses on five major outcomes: values and governance, human capital development, organizational development, service delivery, and public-private strategic collaboration.
Sanusi Azri stated that the government is committed to improving Malaysia's ranking in the CPI and has set a target of reaching the top 25 by 2033.
He noted that to achieve this goal, the government has already taken various initiatives, including establishing the Special Task Force on Institutional Reform (STAR) to implement bureaucratic reform (RKB).
He said 160 public service processes were simplified last year, with a target to increase to 400 this year.
Meanwhile, as the chairman of the Malaysian Integrity Institute (IIM), Sanusi Azri mentioned that the institute is implementing two key initiatives this year: the Malaysian Integrity Index (INTEX) and the National Integrity Values Reinforcement Strategy (NIH), aimed at integrating integrity into Malaysian social life and thereby helping to enhance the country's CPI ranking.
Sanusi Azri pointed out that many of the government's good initiatives have not been fully promoted, and government departments and agencies are urged to collaborate with the media to convey the government's efforts to the people. The media also has a role to play in fostering public servant integrity and disseminating information on the government's efforts to raise integrity levels.
Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) announced on February 11th that Malaysia's CPI ranking for 2024 remains at 57th place, with a score of 50 points.
Besides Sanusi Azri, Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman Tan Sri Azam Baki and TI-M Chairman Dr. Mohd Mohan were also invited as guests on the "Narrative Interview" program.