COMMENT | One of the most emblematic faces of our country’s convoluted trade and economic policies has to be approved permits - or APs - which give its owners the ridiculous right to import goods in a restricted list such as cars, foods, construction materials, and others.

Introduced in the 1970s with the excuse that it would help promote trade and business, especially among bumiputera who are mostly the recipients of this favoured, flawed mechanism, it has done exactly the opposite.

It has restricted trade by allowing only the favoured few access to certain sectors of the market, which resulted in extreme profiteering, raised the cost of doing business, and resulted in much higher prices for a range of goods from cars to cement, concrete, steel, and food.

Additionally, a system of import permits, bureaucracy, red tape, and outright corruption through favouritism for some has exacerbated the problems caused by APs.

The entire process of importing from overseas at minimal cost and hindrance has been compromised, leading to high prices for all manner of consumer items. 

It is estimated that some...