Govt service improvements discussed at cabinet retreat - Anwar

 

The government carried out an assessment on improving its services, including on education and technology issues, to enhance the country’s capabilities, said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

He said the assessment was carried out during the cabinet retreat in Cyberjaya based on input from the private sector, researchers, scientists, and international experts, as well as the views and recommendations of the cabinet ministers.

“Many researchers or experts have made very high-quality contributions. And through this retreat, my deputies, the chief secretary to the government, and I were listening to views, remarks, criticisms, and new suggestions.

“Not to defend existing programmes or policies, but ready to assess that there is room for improvement to implement more effective programmes and policies,” he told a press conference in conjunction with the cabinet retreat yesterday.

Anwar and 31 ministers attended the two-day retreat held at Cyberview Resort & Spa from Jan 17-18.

Also emphasised during the retreat were energy transition, digital transformation, industrial plans, and service reform to improve the quality of government services to the people and the country, he said.

“The comprehensive discussion focused on the unity of the people and political stability which is a prerequisite for us to implement the programmes.

“Then we talked about the economy to increase domestic and foreign investment and also focused on some specific issues to improve national education, including TVET and technology education, digital issues, AI, and also some other issues,” he said.

Anwar said the results of the discussion would be used to drive the national economy to strengthen the Madani philosophy.

He also expressed his appreciation to all cabinet members who made the programme a success.

On the allegation by Bersatu information committee member Mohamad Shafiq Abdul Halim that the retreat was held with the aim of ‘locking up’ members of Parliament, Anwar said it should not be an issue.

“This is a retreat. To cut costs, all the ministers were asked to go back to their homes to sleep and come back the next morning. So, there is no issue,” he said.

- Bernama