Sabah’s financial performance ‘extraordinary’ – DPM

KOTA KINABALU: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday described the Sabah’s financial performance as “extraordinary”, and attributed it to the good leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

He said the Federal Government will continue to support the rural transformation programmes, especially in Sabah.

This year alone, some RM255.7 million, which is 26 per cent from the overall figure, is channeled towards executing over 2,000 transformation projects statewide,” he said.

Under the New Economic Model, civil servants would act as mediators to ensure the private sector continue to be competitive in the challenging global economy, Muhyiddin said.

“In the National Transformation Policy context implemented now, we need to understand the bigger picture which is that our nation is facing a challenging and competitive scenario. If we do not act fast, we will be left behind in the race towards achieving the developed country status,” he said.

Muhyiddin said the nation’s private sector investments went up to RM94 billion last year, an increase of 19.4 per cent compared to 2010, while the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) rose by 12.3 per cent to RM32.9 billion, compared to 2010′s RM29.3 billion.

“The Economic Transformation Plan has created 110 projects with potential investments amounting RM179.2 billion, and we have also recorded the highest revenue collected with a historical amount of RM100 billion, which enables the government to channel allocations towards the people’s welfare programmes,” he said.

He said Malaysia earned global and international recognitions, such as from the AT Kearney 2011 FDI Confidence Index, after receiving five-fold increase in investment or 537 per cent to RM27 billion in 2010.

Malaysia was placed 12th, up from its previous 18th position, in the Doing Business 2013 Report by the World Bank, better than developed countries such as Sweden (13th), Taiwan (16th), Germany (20th), Japan (24th) and Switzerland (28th).

“In terms of global competition, the Global Competitiveness Report has listed Malaysia as the second best among the Asean countries, fifth best in Asia Pacific and 21st among the 142 nations worldwide, which is a five-notch improvement from the previous year.

“With all these achievements, this would be the best time to call for election,” he quipped.

On a more serious note, Muhyiddin reminded the civil servants of their heavier roles and responsibilities.

“It is through the hard work and concern from the civil servants that we are able to carry out various touch point programmes for the people, such as RM2.6 billion 1Malaysia People’s Assistance (BR1M), which benefited close to 390,000 Sabahans (RM1.95 million); RM500 million 1Malaysia People’s Trust Scheme (SARA 1Malaysia); the RM260 million allocation for the RM100 School Assistance involving 5.3 million primary and secondary students; the setting up of 13 1Malaysia Clinics which offer a fee of RM1 and free service for senior citizens; and the !Malaysia People’s Shop (KR1M), of which 24 outlets are expected to be operating next year. To date there are only two are in operation.

Meanwhile, Musa congratulated the civil servants in the state for the good performance in implementing the development programmes under the Ninth and 10th Malaysia Plans.

“Under the 9MP (between 2006 – 2010), the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth was five per cent annually, and the highest was 7.7 per cent in 2008. While Sabah’s trade surplus increased over three-folds from RM4.8 billion in 2006 to RM15.7 billion (2010).

“Infrastructure development and facilities in the state improved, as well as the poverty eradication efforts with the improvement of the people’s socio-economy,” said Musa.

Last year, Sabah was awarded the Clean Bill Certificate, 12th year in a row, and the state was given the AAA rating by the RAM Rating Service Berhad for three consecutive years.

“The state reserve is stable and exceeds RM3 billion, while the revenue stands at RM4 billion. The surplus is RM730 million while the development expenses amount to RM1.17 billion,. We have no outstanding payment for any loans from the central government. And I believe this will remain,” said Musa.