DIALOGUE WITH MUHYIDDIN AND MUSA

DIALOGUE ......A large gathering of state and federal civil servants at the dialogue with Deputy Prime Minister.

By : REBECCA CHONG

DEPUTY Prime Minister, Tan Sri Dato Muhyiddin Yassin held a dialogue with state and federal civil servants at the Megallan Sutera Hotel last Tuesday. Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Aman was also present at the dialogue.

Muhyiddin Yassin commended all Federal and State civil servants for their contributions to the country's achievements.

As prime indicators of these achievements he told the gathering that the National Private Sector Investment increased by 19.4 percent since 2010 to RM94 billion in 2011. The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) increased by 12.3% from RM29.3 billion in 2011 to RM32.9 billion this year.

The Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) generated 110 projects in 2011 with a potential investment value of RM179.2 billion.

He said Malaysia also achieved the highest revenue collection in the country's history amounting to RM100 billion.

On the international front, Muhyiddin pointed out that Malaysia received recognition from AT Kearney 2011 FDI Confidence Index when the investment flow increased sharply to USD9 billion (RM27 billion) in 2010.

According to Doing Business Report 2013 by the World Bank, Malaysia's ranking improved to 12th place from its previous ranking of 18th place. This success has technically placed Malaysia ahead of many developed countries like Sweden (13th place), Taiwan (16th place), Germany (20th place), Japan (24th place) and Switzerland (28th place).

In the Global Competitiveness Report, Malaysia ranked 2nd among ASEAN countries, and 6th in Asia Pacific.

Muhyiddin said that he appreciates the ideas, efforts and support from all civil servants in making Malaysia's socio-economic transformation agenda happen, especially the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). Among these programme are the BR1M (Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia), SARA 1 Malaysia (Skim Amanah Rakyat 1 Malaysia), 1 Malaysia Book Voucher (BB1M), aid to primary and secondary school students of RM100 to each student, and 1Malaysia Clinic and KR1M (Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia).

Muhyiddin also attributed the success of the National Key Result Areas (NKRA) ideas, that led to various development and prosperity programme, to the  effectiveness of civil servants in carrying out their tasks.

Turning to Sabah, he said Sabah also underwent rapid development. A 955 km rural road network was built; 46,710 houses in rural areas were supplied with clean water, an addition of 17,420 houses in 2012; 30,158 houses in rural areas received electricity supply, an increase of 7,716 houses in 2012; and 9,182 houses were built and repaired for low income families, with an addition of 3,924 houses in 2012.

Overall, Muhyiddin said in 2012, the Government allocated RM255.7 million for more than 2,000 transformation projects in Sabah, which is 26% of  the total allocation for transformation programme in Malaysia.

Stressing the important role of civil servants in carrying out the government's National Transformation Policy Muhyiddin said, "The success of this policy is dependent on how efficient and productive the civil servants are. Being productive means executing tasks according to schedule, making fast decisions and taking immediate action." Chief Minister Musa Aman also addressed the gathering. Expressing his gratitude to the Federal and State civil servants, he said,

"I want to thank you all for your hard work and efforts in contributing to Sabah's growth and development. Sabah has accomplished much development during the 9th and 10th Malaysia Plan."

Musa also informed the meeting that during the period of 9th Malaysia Plan, from 2006 to 2010, the average growth rate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Sabah was 5.0% per year with the highest recorded growth rate of 7.7% in the year 2008, which shows the rapidity of Sabah's economic growth. Trade surplus increased 3 times, from RM4.8 billion in 2006 to RM15.7 billion in 2010.

"The Auditor General of Malaysia recognized Sabah as a state with the best record in financial management. With this achievement  our state was once again given a clean bill of health. Sabah has also been accorded a  'AAA' rating by the RAM Rating Service Berhad for 3 years in a row,'Musa said.

Emphasizing the financial stability of Sabah, Musa informed the gathering that the State has more than RM3 billion in its reserve and the  isState Revenue collection amounts to more than RM4 billion.

"The total development budget for this year is RM1.17 billion and we are not in arrears in loan repayment to the Federal Government," he told the civil servants.

"I am sure these achievements can be maintained," he added. Musa also stressed the importance of close collaboration between the Federal Government and the State Government.

"This collaboration and coordination must be optimized in line with the 'Blue Ocean Strategy' stressed by our Prime Minister," he said. (Insight Sabah)