One year of govt: Focus is on accelerating economy - Anwar

The government, whose Madani Economy focuses on economic policy to increase growth, has brought results, especially in new sectors such as digital, green energy, and renewable energy.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the country's economic growth is also evidenced by the increase in foreign investment into the country which is higher compared to previous years.

He said this during a special interview with TV3 on the Madani government's first anniversary, which was broadcast last night.

According to Anwar, who is also the finance minister, the country's political stability and clear economic policies were also catalysts in injecting confidence in foreign investors to see Malaysia as a profitable investment destination.

"In community education, things (related to) governance should be emphasised...I took over power with a mandate without tolerance (for mismanagement). I am grateful, (during) this one-year administration, that there has not been a single rebuttal against any leader on amassing wealth illegally.

"This is a record that cannot be denied," he said during the interview.

Foreign investments

The prime minister added that foreign direct investment into the country has a positive impact on the Malaysian economy and creates more job opportunities, especially among young people, apart from improving their skills and knowledge.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim

However, he stressed that there are challenges that need to be addressed by the government, which is to provide a more suitable and skilled form of training to meet the needs of the market.

"The government's focus is economic growth, quality of education, better health facilities and better socio-economics such as eliminating extreme poverty and poor schools, with much higher investment and in areas that are considered high-tech such as digital and renewable energy, this will guarantee more jobs," he added.

He assured that the government's focus is to provide job opportunities for young people so that their income is not stuck at the rate of RM2,000 per month.

According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the number of those unemployed in September decreased by 0.6 percent to 573,700 people compared to 577,300 people in the previous month. The unemployment rate in September remained at 3.4 percent as it was in August.

Recently, Anwar told the Dewan Rakyat that Malaysia had successfully secured investment commitments worth RM347 billion during official visits and trade and investment missions held abroad.

He said the investments were sourced from China, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

- Bernama