SHAH ALAM: The country's achievements under the National Transformation Programme (NTP) proves that Malaysia has a fundamentally strong economic base, said Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The deputy prime minister, in praising the successes laid out during the launch of the NTP 2016 annual report last night, said Malaysia can strive to achieve even better economically by improving the sentiments of investors, both local and foreign, over the nation's strength.
"In terms of economic achievement, we know for a fact that fundamentally, our country has a strong base.
"However, if we can nurture the sentiment and emotions among foreign and local investors, it would further improve our economy," he told reporters after the report was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
The event, held at the Dewan Agong Tuanku Canselor in Universiti Teknologi Mara main campus, here, saw the attendance of over 5,000 people.
Among those present were federal cabinet ministers, state leaders, senior civil servants, officers from the private sector, as well as university students.
Zahid, who is also the Home Minister, said that on behalf of the ministry, police and Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation, felt appreciated when the prime minister mentioned the country's success in lowering the crime rate by 47 per cent.
However, Zahid noted that he was still not satisfied with the result and vowed to work harder to make the country even safer.
"We felt honoured with the announcement, because despite of all sorts of challenges and perceptions that we had to face, the fact of our achievement is based on the police's success all these years.
"But, this has yet to be satisfactory to me, and we will continue to strive to achieve a better result in lowering the country's crime rate."
Zahid said the Home Ministry had set a new target of 38 key performance indicators from 22 that had been previously set, and aims to achieve a 138 per cent success rate compared to 124 per cent last year.
He said although the aim was high, the ministry is positive that they can achieve them with the high team spirit possessed by its agencies.
ENDS
Keywords: Zahid Hamidi, NTP 2016, National Transformation Programme, Najib Razak, Malaysian economy, Home Ministry