M'SIA MUST DO SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY IN ORDER NOT TO BE OVERTAKEN BY OTHER COUNTRIES - PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 (Bernama) -- Najib Tun Razak says Malaysia is
in the middle of an ocean with full of challenges and something extraordinary
has to be done so that its progress is not overtaken by other countries.

"If we don't do something extraordinary, something with full commitment, I'm
worried we will be overtaken by other countries," said the prime minister when
interviewed on TV3's "Question Answer with Prime Minister (Soal Jawab Bersama
Perdana Menteri)" programme when asked whether Malaysia's vision to become a
developed nation in 2020 was achievable.

Najib was interviewed by Ahmad A. Talib, News and Editorial Operations
Executive Director of Media Prima Berhad and New Straits Times Press (M)
Bhd.

The prime minister said the developed nation definition hinged on what was
actually the values and attributes of an advanced nation as the world's
scenario had changed.

He said Malaysia waited for several years to recover from the unexpected
1997
Asian financial crisis and now the world has been hit again by the global
financial crisis from which Malaysia has been experiencing the adverse effects.

"Hence, the situation is more challenging (now) to attain advanced nation
status as the growth achieved (thus far) had fizzled out following the crises
and mounting challenges posed by other countries.

"Previously, in the 1980s, China's communism ideology served as the main
guide, while India has not even started its reform (programmes), and Vietnam was
with its closed economy.

"Now these countries have become (our) competitors," he said in the one-hour
interview.

Asked what has to be done in order for Malaysia to be not overtaken by other
countries, Najib said he had started the first agenda with the administration
philosophy -- the 1Malaysia concept with the objective "People First,
Performance Now".

"After that, we have the National Key Result Areas (NKRAs) and Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs) methodology. These are part of the Government
Transformation programme. Thirdly is the new economic model for Malaysia which
is being formulated. After that, we'll have the 10th Malaysia Plan.

"There are segments of the agenda that stressed on innovation and
creativity," he added.

-- BERNAMA



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