By Aidila Razak
Malaysians could earn US$15,000 a year, making the nation a high income nation, before the 2020 target.
According to the Economic Transformation Programme 2012 annual report , the “48.8 percent gross national income per capita surge” since 2009 indicates the target could be met by 2018.
“The country’s GNI per capita has risen from US$6,700 in 2009 to US$9,970 in 2012…
“Based on current projects and barring unforseen circumstances, this gives Malaysia the potential to achieve a GNI per capita of US$15,000 earlier than the 2020 target,” the report launched by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak Tuesday night reads.
According to the report prepared by the government’s Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), the US$15,000 was set in accordance to the World Bank’s threshold for a high income economy.
“The World Bank’s current GNI per capita threshold for a high income economy is US$12,476.
“We factored in the World Bank’s published historical global inflation figure of two percent until 2020 to arrive at a high-income threshold of US$15,000,” the report reads.
According to the report, private sector confidence has grown compared to the pre-Economic Transformation Programme years, as evident in the growth of private investment.
Despite tough global financial conditions, investments in Malaysia grew by 19.9 percent in 2012 compared to 6.5 percent in 2012.
This accounted for more than a quarter of the gross domestic product (GDP – goods and services produced in a year in the country), with 58 percent of investments coming from the private sector.
Private investment in 2012 was RM139.5 billion, compared to RM100.7 billion from the public sector.
The programme itself also did well, hitting 93 percent of its 2012 targets, as validated by audit house Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC).
It fell short on several aspects, including in attracting Public Service Department scholars Specialised Training and Advanced Recruitment programme and divestment of government businesses.
The agricultural projects faced the most problems, with projects like fragrant rice farming, cattle feedlotting and dairy clusters suffering from poor private uptake or lack of local experience.
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