Tourism Projects To Continue Under Malaysia's ETP To Achieve Targets - Pemandu

GEORGE TOWN (Penang, Malaysia), Oct 18 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian government will continue projects for the tourism sector under Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) to achieve its target of 36 million tourist arrivals by 2020. Chief Executive Officer of Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu, an agency under the Prime Minister Department of Malaysia), Idris Jala, said the tourism sector grew by 8.8 per cent last year and was the third largest contributor of US$15.99 billion (RM67.1 billion) to the gross national income. Idris said he was confident Prime Minister Najib Razak would continue to include the tourism activities in Malaysia's Budget 2017 on Friday. "I'm sure the tourism sector will be included under the ETP in the Budget 2017 as we work towards achieving our goal of high-income nation status by 2020," he told reporters on the sidelines of the World Tourism Conference 2016 here Tuesday. Najib will table Budget 2017 in the Dewan Rakyat (Malaysian Parliament) on Friday. Under the ETP, Idris said, the tourism sector has been identified as one of the key economic sectors which was capable of achieving US$40.01 billion (RM168 billion) in tourism receipts and 36 million tourist arrivals by 2020. "To achieve the targets, initiatives will encompass a broad range of product offerings of affordable luxury, nature adventure and business tourism," he said. Meanwhile, Idris said, the government has also implemented inclusive measures for rural folks with six million rural people expected to benefit from rural infrastructure projects, including new roads, electricity, water supply and housing development projects. Under the ETP, the government has identified 12 National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) comprising 11 critical sectors, such as wholesale and retail, tourism and healthcare, plus one geographical area called the Greater Kuala Lumpur. To forge greater partnerships between the public and private sectors, the ETP has allocated US$138 billion for 131 entry-point projects, US$112 billion for 60 Business Opportunities and US$86 billion for growth-related to the 12 NKEAs. --BERNAMA