Malaysia Can Share Success Story At CAPAM 2014 - Ahmad Sarji

By Siti Radziah Hamzah, Sharifah Pirdaus Syed Ali & Jason Tan KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 (Bernama) -- Malaysia can share the success story of its civil service at the upcoming conference of Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM), said Permodalan Nasional Bhd chairman Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid. Speaking to Bernama in an interview, he said the government had introduced a number of measures, including the National Integrity Plan and the Government Transformation Programme, which had yielded to an improved civil service performance. "The current government has a very ambitious and correct development plan for the country in both its economic and social transformation plan," said Ahmad Sarji, who was the chief secretary to the Government between 1990 and 1996, and a figure instrumental in strengthening the civil service. He had also served as CAPAM's first vice-president in 1994 before being elected as its second president, two years later. Ahmad Sarji had introduced a number of measures to strengthen the civil service, including performance measurement and quality control. "In CAPAM, among the most popular issues that crop up very often were the performance measure of public service, and the most contentious issue of bifurcation between politics and administration," he noted. "I would like to believe my appointment as vice-president and second president for two terms was not so much due to my personality but rather due to measures adopted by the public service to improve the public service delivery system," he added. Since its inception in 2004, CAPAM has grown to a network of over 1,100 members across Commonwealth countries. The CAPAM conference, themed 'Public Service Transformation: A New Conversation', will be held in Putrajaya from Oct 19 to 21. This time around, Chief Secretary to the Government Dr Ali Hamsa, who is also CAPAM vice-presdent, will be Malaysia's key representative. The 13th chief secretary to the government, who was appointed on June 28, 2012, is expected to share Malaysia's success story and experiences in public service transformation. In the Economic Transformation Programme Report 2013 released in May, Ali had revealed the latest Public Service Delivery Transformation (PSDT) programme, the government's latest answer to narrow the gap between public perception on the availability and quality of public services. He had said the PSDT would strengthen the delivery of services to the people, addressing emerging needs in tandem with Malaysia's transformation into a high-income economy. These needs were related to factors such as the country's shifting demographics and growing urbanisation, which had raised considerations for housing, education and the crime rate. The PSDT was also expected to increase efficiency and improvement which would help reduce the government's expenditure in the long run, Ali said in the report released by the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) of the Prime Minister's Department. -- BERNAMA