KULIM: Malaysia’s success in achieving 5.9 per cent economic growth last year proves the Barisan Nasional (BN) government’s capability to transform the economy under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s leadership.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the achievement, which had earned the praise of the World Bank, was a sterling achievement by Najib.
“More importantly, the growth, as stated in the National Transformation Programme report card released by the prime minister showed that 68 per cent of the growth was driven by the private sector.
“This is in line with the growth recorded by developed nations where the private sector is the main driver of economic growth,” he said after attending a gathering with teachers and retired teachers at the Kulim/Bandar Baharu District Education Office here today.
Mahdzir was responding to the National Transformation Programme Annual Report 2017 presented by Najib yesterday which suggested that Malaysia was on track to achieve developed nation status by 2020.
Among the highlights was the fact that the country’s gross national income (GNI) per capita last year came closer to the World Bank’s current high-income threshold by 20 per cent, from 33 per cent in 2010.
The report said RM1.8 trillion in investments was recorded between 2011 and last year, surpassing the NTP Roadmap target of RM1.4 trillion.
Mahdzir said the economic progress had also enabled the government to carry out transformation initiatives in the education sector.
For example, he said, the Education Ministry’s records showed that pre-school enrolment nationwide among children aged 4 to 6 rose significantly last year.
“The increase is across the board at all government pre-schools operating in primary schools, Tadika Kemas under the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, Tadika Perpaduan under the National and Integration Department and private pre-schools registered with the ministry nationwide.
“Besides that, we also achieved many significant milestones under the National Education Blueprint 2013-2025 which has entered its second wave,” he said.
