Ismail tables 12th Malaysia Plan allocating RM400bil for new and extension projects
Published on: Monday, September 27, 2021
By: Bernama
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob tabled the five-year plan in the Dewan Rakyat on Sept 21, 2021 with the government allocating RM400 billion to finance extension projects and new projects under the 12MP. (Photo: Bernama)
Kuala Lumpur: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today tabled the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021-2025) which aims to restore the momentum of economic growth and achieve long-term development goals, as the country faces challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the 12MP, with the objective of ‘A Prosperous, Inclusive, Sustainable Malaysia’, is not just to generate national wealth, but to enable the people to enjoy a better standard of living with a more equitable distribution of opportunities and outcomes as well as ensuring environmental sustainability.
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Ismail Sabri, who was sworn in as the ninth Prime Minister last Aug 21, tabled the five-year plan in the Dewan Rakyat, with the government allocating RM400 billion to finance extension projects and new projects under the 12MP.
The 12MP, which contained various initiatives is centered on nine main focuses, namely boosting economic growth; strengthen growth catalysts; improving the well -being of Malaysian families; strengthen public safety and order; eradicating hardcore poverty and bridging the income gap.
Another focus is to strengthen the bumiputera and Malaysian Family agenda; accelerate the development of Sabah, Sarawak and the less developed states; accelerate green growth; and improving the efficiency of public service delivery and ensuring effective policy implementation.
“We want to drive the Malaysian Family towards a developed and high-income country that is resistant to challenges in the future. However, this achievement is meaningless, if there are still those who are left out from the current development.
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“We want to live happily together as a family regardless of income level, religion, race and ethnicity,” he said.
On stimulating economic growth, which is the first focus of the 12MP, Ismail Sabri said several strategic and high-impact industries, such as electricity and electronics; global services; aerospace; halal industry; creative; tourism; biomass and smart agricultural activities, will be enhanced, while the transformation of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will be strengthened.
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He said the government has approved several programmes and projects to boost the growth of the strategic sectors and industries, which included an investment loan fund for research and development in aerospace, electrical and electronics fields.
Others included establishment of the Centre of Excellence for Future Industry; intellectual property funds; and a financing scheme for digitization and adoption of technology to support local companies in the transition to advanced technology.
The Prime Minister expressed confidence of Malaysia achieving the target average growth of 5.2 per cent for the service sector, manufacturing (5.7 per cent), agriculture (3.8 per cent), mining and quarrying (2.6 per cent), construction (4.2 per cent), and tourism (3.8 per cent) during the 12mp.
For the MSMEs, he said, they are expected to contribute 45 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 25 per cent of the total export in 2025.
To bridge the digital gap between the rural and urban areas, he said the Internet Centre, Rural Internet Centrer and Rural Community Centre would be transformed into the Malaysian Family Digital Centre that provides facilities for locals to be involved in e-commerce, skills training, learning and community activities.
Realising the importance of talent development to make Malaysia a high-income country, Ismail Sabri said the country's education system will be improved and the issue of mismatch in the job market would be addressed.
The improvements on the education system would include strengthening of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education; replacement of dilapidated schools, strengthening Technical Education and Vocational Training (TVET) programmes and creating a more flexible higher education system.
On strengthening of the healthcare system, Ismail Sabri said the government would review the effectiveness of the existing health system, as well as formulate a national health policy to increase preparedness in management of infectious diseases and health crises.
Towards this end, he said, the Malaysian Institute of Infectious Diseases would be built in Bandar Enstek, Negeri Sembilan next year.
The prime minister also announced that 500,000 units of affordable housing will be built under the 12MP, as well as improvements made to facilitate home financing, including Fund for Affordable Housing, Youth Housing Scheme and Rent-to-Own Program (RTO) to increase the opportunities for the B40 and M40 groups to own homes.
To eradicate hardcore poverty, targeted assistance such as cash and social protection will be extended to those eligible, in addition to allocating RM1.5 billion for the Urban Community Economic Empowerment Programme and the Skim Pembangunan Kesejahteraan Rakyat in the rural areas.
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