PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia must make a clear break from past policies to ensure that it does not get caught in the middle income trap.
Announcing this today, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Malaysia had to recognise that an exports-oriented, cost-effective manufacturing model alone cannot sustain its efforts to break out of the middle-income status.
"We knew that we had to instead make a paradigm shift and create a new economic model that is driven by knowledge, creativity and innovation - a 'blue ocean' of new opportunities," he said during his opening remarks at the launch of the inaugural International Conference on Blue Ocean Strategy, today.
The National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) was introduced in 2009 as a tool to aid the National Transformation Programme, Najib said.
Under this, he said the public sector has undertaken numerous initiatives, namely tearing down silos and allowing creativity and innovation to rise and take centre stage in order to deliver superior services with real and improved results; to maximise outcomes and to enhance the value resources.
"More than 80 per cent of government ministries and agencies have joined forces to create high-impact solutions to address current needs under NBOS," he added.
Najib said that among the numerous NBOS initiatives, the Urban Transformation Centres (UTC) is a great example of providing a wide range of services under a single roof for the people.
"Existing underutilised buildings were swiftly renovated and modified, at the lowest possible cost without compromising on quality.
"We saved RM100 million for every UTC. As there are 15 UTCs in the country, that means this approach saved us RM1.5 billion," he added.
Najib cited another example of the efficiencies under the NBOS, concerning the armed forces and police where 7,400 police officers were brought out from behind their desks and into the frontlines of security on the streets.
"By repositioning, instead of hiring, training and paying that number of new officers, we saved RM 1.3 billion," he added.
Police and military collaboration has also extended to the sharing of training facilities, resulting in savings of around RM700 million.
Najib said NBOS' principles are high-impact, low-cost and rapid execution in action.
He said all of these initiatives were supported in the long term emphasis on education.
"We are working hard to help raise student attainment and aspirations and to transform technical and vocational education so it is aligned with the demands of the new global economy," he added.
Najib also said the country is on track with the Gross National Income (GNP) up by nearly 50 per cent and 1.8 billion jobs created since the start of the NTP.
"Even in times of economic uncertainty, our growth rates remain healthy and far above the global average," he added.
The three-day international conference, themed “Transforming Nations Through Creativity and Innovation” begins today and ends on Aug 18.
Around 4,000 participants from around the world are attending the conference, including leaders from Commonwealth member countries, Asean nations, and members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).