Dr M launches Shared Prosperity Vision, says it’s time for ‘next step’
(FMT) – Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today launched Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 (SPV 2030) outlining the government’s plans for the future.
Mahathir said SPV 2030 will be fullly implemented from 2021.
“In 2021, we will hit the ground running and pursue the Shared Prosperity Vision full steam,” he said at the launch at KLCC this morning.
SPV 2030, he said, aimed at achieving fairer economic growth and adding value to the economy, making Malaysia attractive once more to foreign investors.
Mahathir said the global economy had changed much over the years and while Malaysia had successfully transformed from an agricultural to industrial nation, it was now time for the next step.
Sadly, he said the economic development direction in the past decade, which saw premature liberalisation, the pursuit of gross domestic product (GDP) values and a high-income nation, had turned the country into a low-value economy with a high reliance on cheap and low-skilled labour.
He said this was proven when more than 60% of the jobs created in the past decade were low-skilled with an average salary of less than RM2,000.
“The effect of the economic structure in the past two decades actually widened inequality among the people, be it among income, ethnic and regional classes and even within the supply chain.
“The gap between the Top 20% and Bottom 40% widened from RM2,000 in 1990 to more than RM10,000 in 2016.”
Mahathir also cited the growing inequality among Bumiputeras and non-Bumiputera, urban and rural areas, and between East and West Malaysia.
He said corporate equity data up to 2015 showed Bumiputera equity dropped to 16.2% while non-Bumiputera equity dropped to 30.7%, and foreign equity increased to 45.3%.
In 2011, he said, Bumiputera equity stood at 23.4% while non-Bumiputera equity stood at
34.8%.
So, Mahathir said, the Bumiputera equity target of 30% under the New Economic Policy has yet to be met.
As result of this and corruption, he said the Bumiputera empowerment agenda has been affected and that the blame lay with corruption and abuse rather than the Bumiputera agenda itself.
Shared prosperity, he said, meant that no one was left behind and this included the Bumiputeras, who were lagging behind other communities.
“At the same time, as I always stress, the Bumiputeras should not just wait for the government’s help and support.
“When we understand we are left behind, we need to realise we need to run faster to chase those ahead of us.”
He called on the people to work towards realising the goals of SPV 2030.
Also present at today’s launch were Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali and Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Mahathir first announced SPV 2030 a few months ago but until today, there have been few details.
The objectives of the 10-year roadmap, from 2021 to 2030, are to ensure development for all, address wealth and income disparities and build a united, prosperous and dignified nation.
Among its key targets is for Malaysia to attain a RM3.4 trillion gross domestic product (GDP), employee wages to be at 48% of GDP, an equal salary median among the races and a Gini Coeficient of 0. 34, down from 0.39 in 2016.
SPV 2030 has seven strategic thrusts, consisting of a business and industry ecosystem, key economic growth activities (KEGA), human capital, labour market and compensation of employees, social wellbeing, regional inclusion and social capital.
Each of these thrusts has its own targets like SME and microbusinesses contributing to 50% of GDP, the building of new sectors like renewable energy, and Islamic Finance Hub 2.0.
It also targets 60% of SPM leavers to pursue TVET, a discrimination-free labour market, the measuring of poverty using a relative poverty index, and the introduction of a religious harmony index, among others.
On top of that, SPV 2030 also outlines specific KEGAs for each state, including being logistics or financial hubs, eco tourism and heritage tourism, manufacturing or agriculture.
