<mark>results-oriented public and private sector delivery service, to enable an efficient, productive, internationally competitive, sustainable and inclusive national economy which upholds the welfare of its people.</mark> <mark>PEMUDAH’s work is carried out by its members, who are heads of federal government ministries and departments, accomplished leaders of trade and industry, and members co-opted from key public sector agencies. PEMUDAH’s governance framework and organizational structure effectively cuts across silos, smoothens implementation processes, and encourages teamwork and information sharing.</mark> <mark>By empowering the private sector with agenda-setting and decision-making power, PEMUDAH strives to enhance the private sector’s incentive for active participation. PEMUDAH’s institutional structure makes them equal players in the business regulation reform agenda. Drawn from prominent industry and trade leaders and non-governmental organization heads, these private sector representatives represent different sectors of the Malaysian economy.</mark><sup>12</sup> <mark>Vested with such powers and representation, the private sector sees itself as an equal player with adequate decision-making power in making necessary regulatory changes that affect the business environment in which they operate, thus directly benefitting from these changes. PEMUDAH has 12 technical working groups, each of which is co-chaired by a senior government head and a business leader who report directly to the PEMUDAH co-chairs (the Chief Secretary to the government and the Vice-President of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers) (Kuriakose and Eknath (2020).</mark> Collaboration between the public sector and the private sector through PEMUDAH has driven policy and regulatory reforms and improvements to enhance the public and private sector service delivery and the general business environment in Malaysia. Through its technical working group, PEMUDAH has led initiatives to, among other things, streamline the process of business incorporation, implement e-payment facilities, and facilitate trade. More recently, PEMUDAH has provided healthcare industry players with the requisite information on the submission process and harmonization of technical requirements for setting up private hospitals in Malaysia (Kuriakose and Eknath 2020).

# **6. Implications for future research**

This paper is the first step in a longer research agenda on the mandate, structure, and composition of reform committees. As such, the current data lays a foundation that could be further refined and expanded to answer different research questions. The types of questions the data in its present form can address include further analysis of descriptive data to provide an even more granular understanding of what the current data suggests. The data could be used to design typologies of reform committees or related indicators which could be analyzed using different statistical methods. Statistical correlations could also be generated for further empirical testing. For example, is there a correlation between the existence of a reform committee and the number of business regulatory reforms enacted, or the type or effectiveness of business regulatory reforms implemented over the course of the existence of the committee? Similarly, is there a correlation between the position of the committee within the government (housed at the Prime Minister’s office, at a Ministerial level or other) and governance effectiveness or regulatory compliance as measured by either sector-specific improvements or broad national indicators such as the Worldwide Governance indicators, Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom indicators, or Business Ready (the new World Bank Group’s benchmarking project assessing the business and investment environment worldwide<sup>13</sup> )?

An important contribution of the current project is the relationships and contacts that have already been established with the appropriate institutions. They could provide additional information and data which, in

> 12 Website of the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business or PEMUDAH (Pasukan Petugas Khas Pemudahcara Perniagaan) <u>https://www.pemudah.gov.my/about</u>

> 13 Website of the World Bank Group Business Ready: https://www.worldbank.org/en/businessready

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