National development builds upon and will only triumph through concerted effort by all parties.

SINCE Independence, Malaysia has progressed remarkably and experienced growth through its philosophy of achieving growth with equity.

In the course of 54 years of Independence and through 12 five-year development plans or Malaysia Plans beginning with the First Malaya Plan in 1957, numerous development programmes and projects have been undertaken to promote equitable socio-economic conditions and more importantly provide quality livelihood for the people.

ICU JPM being a central agency for coordinating implementation of development programmes/projects subscribes to Directive No.1, National Action Council, which outlines the monitoring machineries covering the federal, states, districts and ministries.

Since its inception in 1971, the Directive No.1 has been revised six times to suit demand and changes.

In addition, the monitoring system has also evolved from the manual monitoring through the Red Book in the 70s to a web-based Project Monitoring System (SPPII).

In the 9MP, a total of RM230bil was allocated of which 96.3% was spent for the implementation of nearly 26,000 projects that translated into encouraging outcomes.

The successful outcomes of these projects can be seen from the numbers of quality human capital developed, infrastructure provided and recognition achieved.

For example, efforts to upgrade the national schools appeal had made its mark with the increase of graduate teachers for primary schools from slightly above 6% in 2005 to 28% in 2010, an achievement beyond the set target of 25%.

In nurturing quality R&D as well as enhancing scientific and innovative capabilities, the country has managed to attain a ratio of 155 research scientists and engineers (RSEs) per 10,000 labour force, as compared to the targeted 50 RSEs per 10,000 labour force.

To measure up, the initiative of making 3,025 national schools “smart” through the establishment of Internet access centres had also succeeded, as 3,029 primary schools were equipped with the required facility.

In creating tertiary institutions of international standard, the quality of academic programmes offered in Malaysia has gained better international recognition.

This is proven by the 80% boost of foreign student enrolment in Malaysian private institutions.

The Third Thrust of the 9MP is to address socio-economic inequalities.

Recognising that poverty eradication is the first step in the larger effort to address the socio-economic disparity in the country, the 9MP emphasised poverty eradication programmes.

The commitment has shown outstanding results in which the Government had significantly reduced hardcore poverty for the verified data.

However, the incidence of poverty is dynamic and needs to be continuously addressed.

To enhance the standard and quality of life for the people, the Government implemented more than 5,600 programmes/projects encompassing improved health services and construction of new hospitals, health clinics, rural clinics and 1Malaysia clinics.

The urban public transport network and services had been improved by the completion of the Electrified Double Track between Sentul-Batu Caves, the development of Integrated Transport Terminal in Bandar Tasik Selatan and the procurement of new buses.

This has been one of the targeted key performance indicators (KPI) of the Government in terms of public transport usage and ridership.

The needs for rural basic infrastructure have continually been addressed with the construction of more than 700km of rural roads, connection of almost 36,000 units of houses to clean water supply and ensuring more than 27,000 houses received 24 hours electricity supply.

Government initiatives to enhance the quality of the public sector delivery in the course of and use of ICT through the introduction of the e-KL, e-SPKB, e-Payment and e-PBT have received positive response from the public.

The number of users of myGovernment portal also increased by 45% from about 1,400,000 in 2009 to 2,000,000 in 2010.

Apart from that, starting in 2008, e-Filing facility was extended to the category of non-resident taxpayers, partnerships, and employers.

The implementation of the 9MP and previous development plans reflected the contribution of national development programmes and projects in providing the right infrastructure for Malaysia in its journey to be a high income and developed nation by 2020.

Moving forward, current success has to be managed and upcoming challenges need to be overcome.

Under the 10MP, a new approach has been undertaken through the introduction of the Rolling Plan.

The Rolling Plan is geared for better planning and implementation of development programmes/projects through the implementation of a two-year rolling development ceiling.

The 10MP is crucial as it is one of the pillars that supports the National Transformation Programme.

The success of the national development programmes/projects apart from relying on the efficiency of the Government machineries also reside upon effective partnering of the public and private sectors.

The Government, in achieving the nation’s aspiration, provides the direction, instrument and also funding but it also needs strategic collaboration with the private sector in ensuring total success.

National development builds upon and will only triumph through concerted effort by all parties.

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