VOL NO REGD NO DA 1589

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

HEADLINE

POLITICS & POLICIES

METRO & COUNTRY

VIEWS & OPINIONS

EDITORIAL

LETTER TO EDITOR

OPINIONS & VIEWS

COMPANIES & FINANCE

BUSINESS & FINANCE

LEISURE & ENTERTAINMENT

MARKET & COMMODITIES

SPORTS

WORLD

 

FE Specials

FE Education

Urban Property

Monthly Roundup

Saturday Feature

Asia/South Asia

 

Feature

13th SAARC SUMMIT DHAKA-2005

WOMEN & ECONOMY

57th Republic Day of India

US TRADE SHOW

 

 

 

Archive

Site Search

 

HOME

HEADLINE
 
Education leads Malaysia's new spending plan
John Burton, FT Syndication Service
4/5/2006
 

          SINGAPORE: Abdullah Badawi, the Malaysian prime minister, unveiled recently the country's new M$200bn ($54bn) five-year economic plan, which emphasised education and rural development over infrastructure projects.
The shift in spending priorities underscored Mr Abdullah's attempts to close an income gap between urban and rural areas that had been exploited by the fundamentalist Islamic opposition party to win votes. The plan aims to halve the poverty level to 2.8 per cent of the 26m population.
He also vowed to continue the controversial affirmative action programme for the ethnic Malay majority to increase their influence in the economy, which is dominated by ethnic Chinese.
The plan includes developing a special economic zone along the Thai border to help end an insurgency in Thailand's southern region, which is largely inhabited by ethnic Malays.
The government said manufacturing would lead economic growth, at an average annual rate of 6.0 per cent in 2006-10 against 4.5 per cent in the previous five years.
But the biggest share of the development budget will go to education and training, which will be allocated M$41.11m, a fifth of total spending, over the next five years. This is aimed at boosting Malaysia's competitiveness as it risks losing out to China and India.
With Malaysia hoping to reach developed nation status by 2020, Mr Abdullah said the "competition for investment and jobs is becoming stiffer. As an open economy, Malaysia is not insulated from an even more competitive environment. We must act faster."
But critics have said Malaysia's affirmative action policy has hampered economic efficiency because it has awarded contracts for state projects based on racial guidelines rather than merit. Mr Abdullah said the government would reform the process of awarding contracts by increasing competitive bidding and setting performance targets.
Companies without Malay directors or employees cannot bid for state contracts. The issue is seen as a barrier to foreign companies operating in Malaysia.
Economists believe that growth could expand in the next five years because Malaysia has important natural resources including oil and gas and palm oil.
Since coming to power in 2003, Mr Abdullah has reduced spending on infrastructure projects that had led to a large budget deficit. He aims to cut the deficit from 3.8 per cent to 3.4 per cent of gross domestic product by 2010.

 

 
  More Headline
Businesses for flat duty rate on essential items
Surprise torrent takes place after long drought
Paying for the failure to set priorities right
WB presses govt again to readjust fuel prices
Education leads Malaysia's new spending plan
Consumers drink WASA water with excessive ammonia
Share prices on DSE tumble in bearish mkt
WB, ADB eager to become equity partners in Rupali sell-out bid
WB, ADB eager to become equity partners in Rupali sell-out bid
US oil co likely to sign PSC on block 3 and 6
NCBs losing export market due to lower forex buying rates
Prime Bank makes tremendous progress
Cumbersome EMRD bureaucracy 'compounding current fuel crisis'
WB requests govt to utilize $120m renewable energy fund
Call rate drops to 16pc
Chinese firm to invest in motorbike manufacturing
Bangladesh 'must shift focus from exports of goods to services'
Optimism runs high about SAFTA deal
Govt will nab all terrorists, PM tells TIME Magazine
Govt suspends daily monitoring of fuel consumption
Thaksin declares his resignation
BGMEA concerned over heroin smuggling news
Third int'l tourism festival begins in city tomorrow
 

Print this page | Mail this page | Save this page | Make this page my home page

About us  |  Contact us  |  Editor's panel  |  Career opportunity | Web Mail

 

 

 

 

Copy right @ financialexpress.com