KISKANDAR PUTERI, Dec 6 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is confident Malaysia’s economy will reach RM2 trillion in seven to eight years.

Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said the rapid development of Iskandar Malaysia will help the country achieve the target.

“I want the economy to reach RM2 trillion within seven to eight years.

“I have discussed with Finance Minister II, Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani, and we believed we can achieve the target,” he said.

Najib said this at the launch of the 10th Iskandar Malaysia anniversary celebrations in Educity Sports Complex here today.

Najib, who is also joint chairman of Iskandar Regional Development Authority, said he wanted Malaysia to be the Top 20 nation of the world within a certain period of time.

He said the criteria to achieve the target would be announced at a later time.

“Iskandar Malaysia will also contribute to achieve the target,” Najib said.

He said from 2006 until last month, Iskandar Malaysia’s cumulative committed investments had reached RM221 billion compared with the target of RM215 billion.

“What I want to say is that the federal government invested RM20 billion and the returns on investment were ten times, or RM221 billion, which are impressive,” he said.

He said the returns to Iskandar Malaysia would be bigger in time to come.

“Over the past 10 years, the investments in Iskandar Malaysia had helped create nearly 700,000 jobs in various services sectors like logistics, creative, tourism and education,” he said.

The success of the Iskandar Malaysia development concept was also due to the strong collaboration between the state and the central governments in developing the regional economy concerned, Najib said.

“If there is no agreement between them, there will be no celebrations like today,” he said.

Najib also credited former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi for initiating the concept.

“(So) where credit is due, credit should be given. I’m grateful to Abdullah,” he said.

Meanwhile, Najib said, Khazanah Nasional Bhd has allocated a RM2 million fund to offer grants to small businesses.

He also announced to building of a RM5 million mosque in Taman Bayu Damai, near Pengerang.

At the same function, the Prime Minister launched Iskandar Malaysia’s 10-Year Progress Report.

Also present at the anniversary celebrations were Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Tun Abdullah, Khazanah’s Managing Director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar and Chief Executive of Iskandar Regional Development Authority Datuk Ismail Ibrahim.

At a press conference later, Najib said, the economy was worth RM1.33 trillion and the projects that were being and would undertaken, such as the development of Iskandar Malaysia, East Coast Railway, High-Speed Rail Kuala Lumpur-Singapore, would contribute to the target of a RM2 trillion economy.

“That’s our goal. I believe that by looking at what I saw in my visit to Johor, with Pengerang and development the Iskandar Malaysia, God willing, we will try to achieve that goal,” he said. — Bernama