“Malaysia must begin encouraging domestic investments and grow from within, instead of depending on FDI. Local investors will keep their profits here rather than foreign investors,” he told a room packed with corporate leaders yesterday.
Vision 2020 or Wawasan 2020, coined by Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister, comprised nine objectives. One of which was to attain developed-country status by the year 2020.
First articulated during the tabling of the Sixth Malaysia Plan in 1991, Mahathir had wanted to turn the country into a self-sufficient industrialised nation by 2020.
Explaining his rationale during the Perdana Leadership Foundation CEO Forum 2010 — Approaching 2020, Malaysia’s Decade for Growth conference yesterday, he said that he had coined the term because Malaysia needed a target to aim at.
“Although, we weren’t very sure we could become one by 2020, we felt that the country needed to focus on a target. That is why we set US$16,000 per capita income as one of the objectives,” he said.
“But we did qualify that the status of developed nation will be based on our own mould, unlike others,” he added.
Mahathir signing autographs after speaking at the Perdana Leadership Foundation CEO Forum yesterday. Photo by Bernama
According to Mahathir, the government thought then that US$16,000 per capita income was achievable if the country grew at 7% annually in real terms.
“In 10 years, that 7% would have doubled and in 30 years, it would have quadrupled had it not been for the Asian financial crisis which caused our ringgit to fall from RM2.50 to RM3.80 against the US dollar,” he explained.
Besides per capita income, Mahathir said other objectives of Vision 2020 were to create a Malaysian race and to reach developed status in terms of industrialisation and education, as well as to become a producer state.
“At the time, we decided to bring in FDI to help overcome our unemployment problem. This worked in the beginning as no other country in this region competed for FDI and Malaysia provided low labour cost.
“We were so successful in attracting FDI that we brought in a lot of foreign labour, which isn’t necessarily good as they remitted their income home. Over the years, we have become over-dependent on them.
“These days, we can no longer compete with the likes of Vietnam or China as they provide even lower labour costs.”
This approach has to change if Malaysia wants to attain Vision 2020, he said.
Pointing to Japan and South Korea as examples, Mahathir said these countries did not use FDI to build their countries. “They acquired technology and then built up local industries by protecting and giving them financial assistance.”
He added that, “Although Vision 2020 may not be achievable, it is still a good target to maintain. But if the country is to reach this target, it must change its strategies and direction.”
Mahathir, who was prime minister for 22 years, also suggested that new industries must be knowledge-based instead of labour-intensive ones.
Among those present at Mahathir’s closing address was Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) CEO Datuk Seri Idris Jala. The former Malaysian Airlines Bhd CEO is also the main driver behind the government’s Economic Transformation Programme, which aims to achieve Vision 2020 by focusing on domestic investments.
Written by Chan Kok Leong
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, September 30, 2010.
No comments:
Post a Comment