PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
INGENIEUR
GLOBALISATION
As we bid farewell to 2014, the year will always
be remembered as the milestone year for BEM
in which amendments to the Registration of
Engineers Act (REA) 1967 incorporating provisions
for the liberalisation of engineering services were
finally passed by Parliament. The event is most
timely considering that Malaysia will hold the
ASEAN Chair in 2015, which is also the year the
ASEAN Economic Community will take effect.
Construction and Related Engineering
Services is one among 12 broad sectors under
the Liberalisation of Service Sectors agreed
among ASEAN leaders. In this issue, an article
summarizing the amendments to the REA 1967
addresses the concerns of the general engineering
fraternity and the benefits when looking at the
broader picture.
Taking cognizance of the tide of globalisation
and the benefits it brings, several FTAs and
MRAs were signed. The recently concluded
APEC Economic Leaders Summit in Beijing in
November 2014 covered extensively matters
such as economic and technical co-operation;
advancing global value chains development and
supply chain connectivity; economic reform; and
pursuing free, open trade and investment. These
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VOL 61 JANUARY – MARCH 2015
VOL 55 JUNE 2013
initiatives together with scores of new investments
funds established, such as Asia Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB), New Maritime Silk Road
Fund and Special ASEAN Fund, are expected to
provide new impetus to the overall economy of the
region. The construction industry will be among
the first beneficiaries as more new infrastructure
works will be implemented in the ASEAN region
and beyond.
Greater mobility of engineering professions and
cross border engineering services are imminent.
The global trend on value chain and connectivity
is well documented in the articles namely APEC
Strategic Blueprint for promotion of Global Value
Chains Development and Co-operation and the
article APEC Connectivity Blueprint 2015-2025.
Globalisation is not something new, but with
liberalisation of engineering service in place
soon on our own shores, local professional
engineers need to assess themselves in the light
of an ASEAN Economic Community of 610 million
population.
Dato’ Ir Hj Annies bin Md Ariff
President, BEM