UPDATE 2
By Shazwan Mustafa KamalPUTRAJAYA, Nov 9 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak says Malaysia is aiming for a nine per cent annual GDP growth until 2020 in order to qualify as a high-income nation by then, and expressed hope that the technology sector would be a major engine of growth towards the target.
He said the country was also looking to double the country's per capita gross national income by 2020.
"We aim to be a developed nation by the year 2020 and we are looking to more than double our per capita gross national income from US$7,000 (RM24,500) to at least US$17,000 by then in order to qualify as a high-income nation according to World Bank classification.
"This would also mean that Malaysia has to grow its GDP by over nine per cent annually until the year 2020," the prime minister said in his speech at the MSC Malaysia Implementation Council meeting today.
Najib said MSC Malaysia would be used as a foundation to build a world-class technology sector to kickstart a vibrant Malaysian ICT industry. This in turn would enable the country to qualify as a high-income nation by 2020.
"We are fortunate that we have in MSC Malaysia the foundation from which we can build a world-class technology sector that can be one of the engines of growth in our New Economic Model to be unveiled at the end of this year.
"In achieving this goal, MSC Malaysia has already put certain emphasis in various ICT sectors. It has put in place the framework for a regional creative multimedia hub with some 200 companies generating RM677 million in annual revenue in areas of post-production, animation, game development, e-learning, mobile and interactive content," he said.
Numerous ICT companies such as Jobstreet and Synamatix which have penetrated the global market need to remain on course as their products must always be of global standard quality as well as cost competitive, he said.
Najib said that even though top multinational companies like HSBC and DHL have invested in Malaysia, companies are now facing difficulties finding :quality workers” due to a supposed imbalance of supply and demand.
The education sector was singled out by the prime minister as having the capacity to produce, attract and retain talent for various industries.
"Ministries must also take pro-active action to maximise use of ICT in delivery of public services, especially as it can improve our quality of life and the image of the government."
He urged people not to view ICT just as an industry to be developed, but also as an enabler for major economic sectors to increase productivity and efficiency.
"I am encouraged to learn that MSC Malaysia's revenue grew steadily from RM 17 billion to RM21.8 billion, which was a year-on-year growth of more than 23 per cent.
“I am confident we can discover ways to take what we have achieved and leverage it to attain our new objectives to transform Malaysia's economy," he said.
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
