MSIAN PM NAJIB OUTLINES FIVE STRATEGIC THRUSTS TO ACHIEVE 10MP ASPIRATIONS

KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 (Bernama) -- Najib Razak Thursday outlined five key
strategic thrusts under the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) to enable Malaysia become
a high-income and developed nation by 2020.

The prime minister said that to move in that direction, Malaysia had to draw
up a new approach which emphasised quality human capital, innovation and
creativity, and the government had to operate as a competitive corporation.

When tabling the 10MP in parliament, Najib said Malaysia could no longer
depend on a low-cost structure to remain competitive internationally because
globalisation, liberalisation and the emergence of countries, such as China,
India, Brazil, Russia, the Middle East and countries in the region, had
intensified the competition for trade and investment.

Elaborating on the thrusts, he said the first was to design government
philosophy and approach to transform Malaysia using the methodology of the
National Key Results Area (NKRA) and the Key Performance Index (KPI).

The second thrust was to create a conducive environment for unleashing
economic growth, while the third was to move towards inclusive socio-economic
development, he added.

He said the fourth thrust was to develop and retain a first-world talent
base and the fifth was to build an environment that enhances quality of life.

The 10MP, which carries the theme "Towards Economic Prosperity and Social
Justice", allocates RM230 billion (US$69.69 billion) for development expenditure
during the five-year period from 2011 to 2015.

In his speech tabling the plan, which took about one hour 40 minutes, Najib
said that to transform the nation towards achieving Vision 2020 of becoming a
developed nation, the plan was based on 10 ideas which had been translated into
10 main premises.

He said these were internally driven, externally aware; leveraging on the
country's diversity internationally; transforming to a high-income nation
through specialisation; unleashing productivity-led growth and innovation;
nurturing, attracting and retaining top talent; ensuring equality of
opportunities and safeguarding the vulnerable.

Concentrated growth, inclusive development; supporting effective and smart
partnerships; valuing the country's environmental endowments; and government as
a competitive corporation.

Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said the 10MP had been formulated with
various new approaches towards enabling Malaysia to become a high-income and
high-productivity economy, in line with the New Economic Model (NEM).

He said that during the 10MP period, the gross national income per capita
was targeted to increase to RM38,850 or US$12,140 in 2015.

"This requires achieving real GDP growth of six per cent per annum. Growth
will be led by the services and manufacturing sectors, in addition to
revitalising the agriculture sector towards higher value added as well as the
adoption of ICT, biotechnology and other relevant technologies," he said.

Najib said that under the 10MP, the government would focus on efforts to
develop non-physical infrastructure, including human capital development such as
skills development and strong innovation capabilities.

Meanwhile, he added, the 10MP allocation for non-physical infrastructure
would be increased to 40 per cent, compared with 21.8 per cent under the ninth
plan.

Focus will be given to skills development programmes, R&D activities and
venture capital funding geared towards promoting a higher level of innovation in
the country," he said.

Najib said the approach was also in line with efforts to encourage the
private sector to invest in physical infrastructure and provide services such as
skills training.

"To support this objective, the government will shift its focus to the
private sector for procurement of services. This means that the private sector
will compete to offer skills training services at competitive costs," he said.

The prime minister said the 10MP would also focus on raising the income and
quality of life of the bottom 40 per cent household income group, where
bumiputeras form the largest number - 73 per cent of the 2.4 million households
in the group.

He said that in order to enhance competitiveness and market efficiency, as
well as ensure more optimal utilisation of resources, it was necessary to reduce
price controls and subsidies in stages to eliminate market distortions and
abuses.

"However, any subsidy reduction will only be undertaken after taking into
consideration the feedback from the people.

"I wish to give the assurance that the lower income group and those who are
most vulnerable will continue to be given assistance to mitigate the impact of
any subsidy reduction on their cost of living," he said.

Najib also said that in line with the "Greater Kuala Lumpur" NKEA (National
Key Economic Area), the government would further enhance the public
transportation network in Kuala Lumpur with the implementation of the
high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system.

He said this was an iconic project in the capital city which would be highly
beneficial to commuters and have large spillovers to the economy.

"When completed, the system is expected to cover a radius of 20km from the
city centre with a total length of about 150km, and when fully operational, will
serve up to two million passenger trips per day from the 480,000 trips on
current urban rail systems," he said.

The prime minister said focus would continue to be given to the bumiputera
development agenda in line with the concept of growth with distribution under
the plan.

He also said that beginning with the 10MP, the implementation of programmes
and projects on a rolling plan basis would be introduced.

With this approach, he said, allocation for programmes and projects would be
provided on a two-year basis beginning 2011-2012.

He said this allowed commitment to be made based on the financial position
of the government and provided flexibility to respond to new priorities and
changes in the global and domestic economic environment.

"The detailed list of the programmes and projects for the first rolling plan
will be ready by the end of August 2010. To carry out the 10MP development
programmes, the government will make available an allocation of RM230 billion
for development expenditure.

"This will comprise 55 per cent for the economic sector, 30 per cent for the
social sector, 10 per cent for the security sector and five per cent for general
administration," he said.

Referring to the World Cup soccer tournament, which begins Friday, the
prime minister said the people could use the analogy of a successful football
team to relate to the successful realisation of Malaysia's aspiration to become
a developed nation and high-income economy.

"For a football team to succeed, all players in the team, irrespective of
their position, need to work together and play as a team.

"If they don't, they are unlikely to win; worse, they may lose badly. Each
player, whether it is the goalkeeper, defender, midfielder or striker, is
equally important.

"However great the footballers are as individual players, victory can only
be achieved as a team. Each individual team member is a valuable asset and
everyone's potential must be optimised to achieve success," he said.
-- BERNAMA


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