PM Najib: Empowering the economy, serving the rakyat

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will continue to strive in empowering the economy despite policy uncertainties in major advanced economies, rising protectionism and geopolitical tension while serving the rakyat to the best of its ability.
"With the private sector prevailing as the key driver of growth, the government will continue to support economic expansion and safeguard the well-being of the rakyat," Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said.
He said the Malaysia economy recorded a sterling growth of 5.7% in the first half of 2017 and continued to remain the preferred investment destination, particularly from Asia and Europe.
"This was reflected by a steady inflow of foreign direct investment at RM25.2 billion during the same period, which was mainly channelled into services, mining and manufacturing," he said in the Economic Report 2017/18 released by Ministry of Finance here, today.
To further enhance Malaysia's economic fundamentals, the government continued to promote new growth areas to achieve an advanced and high-income nation status by 2020, which included enhancing physical and virtual connectivity across the nation.
In addition, efforts are also underway to encourage companies to adopt the Industrial Revolution 4.0 by raising awareness and providing training to transform the way of doing business, which in turn promises an exponential increase in productivity and efficiency.
Among others is the establishment of the Kuala Lumpur Internet City and Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ).
The DFTZ would provide physical and virtual zones to facilitate businesses, especially for small and medium enterprises to capitalise on the convergence and sharing of the digital economy as well as cross-border economic activities.
The prime minister added that with the launch of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) Line and the extension of Light Rail Transit, the government has successfully delivered the best public transportation system to the rakyat.
The MRT-SBK Line was among the largest infrastructure project undertaken by the government.
"At the same time, the government will continue to implement rakyat-centric projects, including MRT Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya Line, Pan Borneo Highway, East Coast Rail Link and the High-Speed Rail," said the Prime Minister.
The government has also embarked on the National Transformation 2050 (TN50) in making Malaysia among the top 20 countries in the world in terms of economic development, rakyat's well-being and innovation.
"TN50 will be shaped by the rakyat's aspiration and it will be the plan to face the future," added Najib. — Bernama