A sneak peek into the 12th Malaysia Plan

Audiences at the inaugural Malaysian Economic Symposium today were given a teaser of the 12th Malaysia Plan, slated to be presented in 2020.

During her presentation, Economic Affairs Ministry deputy director-general Zakiah Jaafar (photo, above) said that the plan is already in the works and will be aligned with Pakatan Harapan’s 'Shared Prosperity 2030' initiative as well as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

And for the first time in the history of such plans, environmental sustainability will be a key focus.

“What happened in Pasir Gudang, what happened in Sungai Kim Kim is unacceptable [...] We are the world’s eighth-worst marine polluters, we are killing our wildlife. What are we leaving in our world to the next generation?

“This time around, we are going to be very serious and put environmental sustainability on par with the economic dimensions,” she said at the event held at Parliament.

In the past few months, schools in Pasir Gudang had to be closed temporarily after students started falling ill as a result of chemical pollution in the nearby Sungai Kim Kim.

Based on Zakiah’s presentation slides, the sustainability dimension will include climate change mitigation initiatives, disaster risk management, a disaster risk insurance scheme and carbon tax.

Sustainable development aside, the plan will include dimensions for economic empowerment and social re-engineering, Zakiah said.

The economic empowerment dimension will focus on driving the digital economy, reforming the agricultural sector, revitalising Cyberjaya and creating a more progressive discal and tax structure, among other things.

Social re-engineering will entail a focus on enhancing social capital, inclusivity and social cohesion through addressing urban poverty, creating more affordable housing and creating greater income equality, especially among the B40 and M40 income groups.

It also plans to ensure early childhood education for all Malaysians and a “structured financial support system” for students, among other things.

Zakiah added that the 12th Malaysia Plan, which will guide the country's development from 2021 to 2025, will be used to operationalise the goals stated in the 'Shared Prosperity 2030' initiative.

-Mkini