Persevere Together To Take Malaysia Forward – Anwar

By Mikhail Raj Abdullah

KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 (Bernama) – The 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) unveiled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today contains actionable insights with practical people-centric strategies that aim to create value across a wide spectrum of sectors and transform the economy to be competitive internationally in the next five years and beyond.

Unlike previous five-year development plans, which sometimes included lofty plans and grandiose projects, the 13MP, themed “redesigning development”, encompasses plans to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) more effectively to achieve a high-income economy, sustainability, equity, and ultimately uplifting the rakyat towards high income. The plan also includes strategies towards gender equality, with women targeted to comprise 60 per cent of the country’s workforce.

Diversifying the economy would be a core thrust of the plan, but the services, manufacturing and construction sectors would remain the main sources of growth while exports – a mainstay of Malaysia’s revenue - are set to expand by 5.8 per cent per year.

In emphasising that no one or group should be left behind, the plan is inclusive, containing strategies that ensure real-life delivery which explicitly aligns with the Madani economic framework.

Emerging as a high-income nation and being among the top 30 major economies is a challenge, but achievable if all sections of the people, industry, and the private and public sectors join hands and galvanise their resources towards achieving this objective. No less important in achieving what is surely a national agenda and moving the country forward is proper and better administration, which is a key ingredient to ensure the effective implementation of 13MP.

But money alone would not suffice to execute the plan effectively.

The Prime Minister’s 13MP speech was also a call for the 1.7 million civil servants and private sector workers to realise that they too play a critical role in ensuring a whole of country success through greater industriousness.

Anwar, who is also the finance minister, showed he meant business when he allocated a larger sum of RM611 billion for the 13MP compared with the 12th Malaysia Plan. Of this amount, a significant RM227 billion will be allocated to the economic sector, which is expected to generate returns on investment for the economy during the five years.

The people also need to come together to elevate Malaysia’s economic standing in Southeast Asia in areas such as AI, digital economy, renewable energy, as well as embracing new technologies and innovation. In line with worldwide trends and facilitating the adoption of AI, the government is targeting 5G network coverage and attracting strategic investments in data centres.

In the process, these efforts would raise the country’s branding as a technology leader and producer of world-class ‘Made by Malaysia’ products and services.

But Anwar also exercised pragmatism by stressing fiscal consolidation, meaning a tight rein on spending and finances from 2026 to 2030 and not a return to excessive spending with little returns by previous administrations.

Here, he emphasised that the government’s fiscal deficit would gradually decrease to below three per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and the debt level to not be more than 60 per cent of GDP.

There are no grandiose plans under the 13MP, as the Prime Minister has made it clear that the focus would be on practical strategies and effective execution of the development plan. The plan includes simple but critical themes such as improving the standard of living for Malaysia’s 34.6 million population, which would grow further by the plan’s end in 2030, with the focus on a transition to an economy based on value creation.

The 13MP emphasises students learning science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), which is crucial to prepare students for future job opportunities in a rapidly evolving and challenging global economy that seems to be transforming almost constantly.

Growth figures and economic expansion aside, Anwar’s insistence that they do not mean anything if the people’s freedom and right to live with dignity are still oppressed by the shackles of hunger, injustice and marginalisation is highly reflective of the prime minister’s magnanimity in keeping the welfare of the people close to his heart.

Anwar’s emphasis under the 13MP on sustainability, gender balance, upskilling of workers, students’ advancement, and enhancing the family unit is clear evidence of the importance he places on people.

More importantly, the 13MP he presented also includes measures to reinforce Malaysia’s economic position so that it is able to take on the vagaries of the international marketplace, which holds no favours for people and countries that do not persevere.

-- BERNAMA