KUALA LUMPUR – Seeing that the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) had not achieved many of its targets, Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal proposed that Putrajaya give periodic reports on the 12th Malaysia Plan’s (12MP) progress in Parliament.
In his debate on the next Malaysia Plan in the Dewan Rakyat today, the Semporna lawmaker also said the 12MP with its RM400 billion allocation has received the largest apportionment of funds in Malaysia’s history, and so every sen spent must be revealed and accounted for.
“We are aware that there were challenges such as globalisation, liberalisation, and the pandemic that had hindered 11MP from achieving its goals, but we must look back at our mistakes and evaluate flaws in the implementations that had made us fail,” he said.
Shafie said that the 11MP only met one out of its five targets and for micro-economic targets, only two out of eight were achieved.
The inflation rate evaluated through purchasing power had also increased 16.7% in the past ten years, while corporate equity (Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera) had dropped from 30.7% to 16.2%.
Shafie urged the government to find methods and ways to reduce the income gap between rural and urban folk, regions, races, and groups, especially those involving the B40 and urban poor groups.
“This should be the core to the nation’s development plan; only by reducing the gap can we enjoy prosperity together fairly,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said the government must set a clear policy on the industrial development of the nation.
He said Malaysia had aimed to become an industrial country from 1970 to 2000, but since 2005, the direction had changed to becoming a trading nation, which focuses more on the service sector.
“But this strategy has proven not to bear results. This is clear when the National Transformation Policy (2010-2020) in 10MP and 11MP did not meet its target.
“With the hindering factors including the high rate of open market or liberalisation, and increasing equity owned by foreigners, do we still want to only be a trading nation without focusing on the industrial aspect?” he asked, adding that it is one of few matters that must be refined and solved together.
He also urged for the government to keep its promise and resolve the remaining four issues pertaining to the Malaysia Agreement 1963. – The Vibes, April 10, 2021
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