KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 ― The Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 (WKB2030) was formulated based on the country’s current economic needs and wants by taking into account the socioeconomic structure in the last decade.
The Shared Prosperity Vision book, launched by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today, revealed eight situations that need to be dealt with in fulfilling the government’s aspiration to achieve the target.
Among the situations faced is the country’s economic growth that is yet to achieve its actual potential.
Besides that, the variety of products and services produced in the country also has not reached the optimal level while the dependence on commodities-based exports is still relatively high.
The vast majority of the industries are still in a low value-added category through the use of low-level technology while the proportion of employee compensation to GDP is also low.
Other situations are the widening of the gap between income groups, ethnicities and regions as well as the existence of unfair competition in the market due to monopoly and profiteering.
The situation is further worsened by corruption and abuse of power that affect the economic growth and its fair and equitable distribution, and the Bumiputera economy has not grown in line with the country’s development and progress.
The book also stated that the nation had undergone various development phases to its current level and noted the numerous policies that had been implemented.
The ethnic-based economic pattern of the country that took shape during colonial times caused social conflict among the people.
Thus the economy was structured via the New Economic Policy (NEP) to restructure the societies so the social conflict would not be repeated and the economy would continue to grow.
The NEP had reinstated the trust and understanding among ethnic groups as well as created various participation opportunities in the economy.
As a result, the hardcore poverty rate was reduced, household income increased and the politics was stable.
However, the target of at least 30 per cent Bumiputera equity ownership is yet met to date.
The economic restructuring measures continued to be implemented to shift the government focus from agriculture to the industrial sector by launching the national industrialisation policy dan the introduction of Vision 2020.
Several policies had been introduced such as the National Development Policy (1991-2000), National Vision Policy (2001-2010) and National Transformation Policy (2011-2020).
During the implementation of the economic structuring policy, various initiatives were carried out, and among the key achievements is propelling Malaysia to become a high-technology nation through the establishment of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) and Multimedia Development Corporation Sdn Bhd (MDeC), now known as Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation Sdn Bhd (MDEC).
The National Automotive Policy was introduced and resulted in the setting up of Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional (Proton) and Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Kedua (Perodua).
The country achieved the Newly Industrialised Economy status in Asia with an average growth rate of 9.9 per cent annually during the 1991-1996 period and was dubbed an Asian Tiger.
Unfortunately, the Asian financial crisis of 1997/98 hit the country. However, selected capital control instruments implemented by the government had since been recognised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Malaysia was also affected by the regional and global economic crises in 2001 and 2008 that demanded a more holistic restructuring of economic development.
All situations that have been identified will be dealt with via WKB 2030. ― Bernama
