Dr Mahathir’s Vision 2020 now Vision 2025

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said on Monday (June 11) his original aspiration for the country to reach a self-sufficient, industrialised nationhood cannot be achieved by 2020.

However, he added that with the right policies, his vision for Malaysia can reach its target by 2025.

“When I stepped down in 2003, I believed we could have achieved Vision 2020 but the succeeding PMs changed the policies and methods we had used to grow the country,” he said at the 24th Nikkei Conference on the Future of Asia in Tokyo, Japan.

The event was broadcast live on local satellite channel Astro Awani.

Dr Mahathir was Malaysia’s fourth prime minister from 1981 to 2003. He returned as the seventh prime minister on May 10, after contesting and winning in the 14th general election under the Pakatan Harapan alliance this time.

“From 2003 to 2018, we find that our policies are not compatible to achieve Vision 2020. Even if we work extremely hard, we cannot achieve. Maybe by 2025 or before that if we adopt the correct policies,” he said.

He added that the “right policies” to achieve a developed nation status are being drafted and he hopes they will be implemented soon.

The 92-year-old blamed the delay in implementing his Vision 2020 on “bad policies” adopted by the previous Barisan Nasional government led by his predecessor Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Mr Najib had introduced the National Transformation 2050 plan which effectively replaced Vision 2020 as the country’s roadmap to first-world nation status, by nurturing the current generation of youths to be the next leaders. MALAY MAIL