11th Malaysia Plan for Vision 2020 mere pipe dream as shortcomings not addressed, analysts say

KUALA LUMPUR — The 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) is unrealistic and will likely not give Malaysia the push it needs to become a developed nation by 2020 unless Putrajaya addresses existing shortcomings first, analysts have said.

Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies deputy director Dr Ooi Kee Beng said it was “not plausible” for Malaysia to meet all the lofty goals outlined in the 11MP in order to ultimately achieve developed nation status come 2020 as Putrajaya has yet to address fundamental shortcomings like education.

“One can wish all one wants, but if the foundational work is ignored, or the measures taken over the years are not properly addressed without being held hostage by political opportunism, than nation building becomes a popularity game.”

“It is not plausible because the major areas have been failing, such as in education. Malaysian schools and universities have been falling in standard, and the standard of English, the medium for new knowledge and for business,” he said in an email to Malay Mail Online.

Similarly, Dr Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University said that crucial components of the 11MP as unrealistic — such as Putrajaya’s goal to have household incomes increase from from RM6,141 (S$2,278) last year to RM10,540 (S$3,910) in 2020.

“There are parts which are not so realistic like to increase household income to RM10,000 over the next five years, you’re talking about a 15 to 20 per cent increase every year. That’s something that is not very realistic,” he said in a phone interview to Malay Mail Online.

He too, thought that the 11MP was more populist rather than a game plan to allow for the government to make tangible changes in order for Malaysia to achieve Vision 2020 and become a developed country.

“But overall as I predicted before, it is more populist or people-centred plan rather than transformative,” he said.

Economists believed that the only way for all the goals in the 11MP to be achieved was to ensure that the economy remains safe and predictable, with no unforeseen changes.

“It is quite likely that this target will be achieved, as long as Malaysia continues to grow at roughly current rates, which is about 2.5 per cent per-capita income growth.

“In other words, all it really needs to do to achieve its high income target is to just avoid a crisis!” Mr Jayant Menon, the lead economist at the Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

Mr Wan Suhaimie Saidie, Kenanga Investment Bank senior vice-president of research also saw a glimmer of hope in Malaysia achieving developed nation status as long as the economy remained stable.

“The current growth trajectory suggest the targets are very possible but this is without considering the possibility of an unforeseen economic downturn interrupting the upward rise of wages,” he said, referring to the target to have household income increase to RM10,000 in five years’ time.

Both economists and analysts believe that Malaysia needed not just economic strength but also good governance and transparency in order for it to truly become a developed nation.

“A developed country is not only about its economy but also in terms of human rights, civil societies, which Malaysia currently lacks and it is unlikely that we will see much improvement by then,” Dr Oh said.

“But achieving Vision 2020 should not be judged purely on the basis of reaching a somewhat arbitrary income per capita benchmark”, Mr Jayant said.

“A host of other factors associated with the quality of institutions and living standards should be considered; this includes good governance, rule of law, protection of property rights, an independent judiciary and Central Bank, equal access to public goods and services, not all these aspects are present in Malaysia today, or appear likely to be present by 2020,” he added.

Yesterday Prime Minister Najib Razak tabled the 11MP, a set of goals that aims to have Malaysia achieve Vision 2020 and ultimately gain developed nation status.

Some of the goals outlined include increasing household income, the “one household, one home” project which sought to build more low-cost homes, having Bumiputeras hold 60 per cent of high-skilled jobs as well as a 5 per cent drop in crime rate annually. THE MALAY MAIL ONLINE