KOTA KINABALU: The government aims to reduce the development gap to 2.5 per cent for Sabah and 1.2 per cent for Sarawak in the 12th Malaysia Plan.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department for Economic Affairs Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said in 2020, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita gap between the central region of the country (namely, the Klang Valley, Negri Sembilan and Melaka) as compared to Sabah and Sarawak were 2.7 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively.
"In the 12th Malaysia Plan, we have made it our aim to reduce the gap to 2.5 per cent for Sabah and 1.2 per cent for Sarawak. This is a modest goal which I believe we can achieve," he said.
He said this at the launch of the 26th edition of the Malaysia Economic Monitor, "Catching Up: Inclusive Recovery and Growth for Lagging States" by the World Bank here today.
Mustapa said Malaysia aspires to be a high-income nation by the year 2025.
"There are huge disparities which exist in the country – not only in wealth and income, but also in education and access to infrastructure."
He said the issue of poverty eradication remains high, if not being one of the main priorities, on the government's agenda.
The Economic Planning Unit (EPU) and Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) through 'Pembasmian Kemiskinan Tegar Keluarga Malaysia' employs an innovative approach in addressing poverty.
He said the programme hinges on local solutions tailored to the unique strengths of particular communities, with the first phase covering 80 localities, where priority is given to the states with the highest poverty rates.
Mustapa also noted that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has projected Malaysia's economy to grow by between 5.3 per cent and 6.3 per cent this year.
"While we remain cautiously optimistic in our near-term economic outlook, we must try to ensure that economic growth and recovery is equitably shared by all Malaysians."