REWARDS, RECOGNITION FOR TOP PERFORMERS - MSIAN PM NAJIB

PUTRAJAYA, July 5 (Bernama) -- Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak wants
the entire ecosystem of the public and private sectors to recognise and reward
high performers to propel the country into the league of high-income nations by
2020.

He said that those who showed potentials, innovativeness, creativity and had
contributed immensely in developing the country, should be recognised and
rewarded.

"Meaning, we have to look into the system. The entire ecosystem must
recognise top performers either in the public or private sector.

"If we recognise those who show excellent performance, innovation,
creativity and those who contribute immensely and are prepared to go the extra
miles, I believe we can develop an ecosystem which will propel the country into
a developed and high-income nation," he said.

Speaking at the monthly gathering of the Prime Minister's Department here,
Najib, who is also the Finance Minister, said the government had introduced
numerous incentives to recognise high performers in the past.

For instance, he said, the government would convert the National Higher
Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loans into scholarships for students who
obtained first class honours degree, and provide scholarships to 30 top scorers
under the national scholarship scheme.

He said that a top performing government agency -- the Inland Revenue Board
-- was recently rewarded with RM1 million (about US$311,000) in incentives under
the Prime Minister's Innovation Award.

"These incentives are for nurturing the culture of high performance among
the people," he said.

Najib said that local companies which showed potentials and had proven their
capabilities should also be given the opportunities to contribute to the
nation's development.

He added that the government's visions of turning Malaysia into a
high-income country in 10 years would require the transformation of the minds.

All major transformations start in the mind. If our mindsets are prepared,
then our journey will take us to our desired destination," he said, adding that
the government targeted to increase the country' Gross National Income to US$504
billion by 2020.

This would require the successful implementation of each of the 12 National
Key Result Areas, he said.

He also urged staff of the Prime Minister's Department and civil servants as
a whole, to bear in mind several key statistics to ensure the government's
objectives were on track.

They should ensure that the country's economy was growing at the rate of six
per cent in the next 10 years, he said.

"We should analyse how these six per cent can be achieved because as staff
of the Prime Minister's Department, you are the planners and implementers," he
said.

To achieve the six per cent growth, private and public sector investment
must reach RM115 billion (US$35.93 billion) annually, he said.

"This means that we, as the planners and implementers, should play our role
as catalysts or enablers to achieve the target.

"If we are not on track, we need to do something. If we are on track, we
need to maintain the course and momentum," he said.

Present were Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Chief Secretary to
the Government Mohd Sidek Hassan.
-- BERNAMA