PUTRAJAYA: The Government is committed to building a sustainable national welfare system in order to achieve a realistic growth of the country's economy, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

Najib, who assumed the role of Women, Family, and Community Development Minister on April 9, said his administration was not concerned with populist platforms that might jeopardise the nation's income level.

He said the Barisan Nasional-led economic reform initiatives, such as its entry point projects and the Economic Transformation Pro-gramme, builds a sustainable welfare model, whereby part of the country's revenue is distributed to the social sector.

“We adopt a realistic and sustainable attitude in this because we want our programmes to be continual and they are able to be increased over time,” he said at the ministry's monthly staff gathering yesterday.

Najib, who delivered his inaugural address here as minister since taking over the post from Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, thanked his predecessor and urged the staff to carry on the work started by her.

At a separate function in KUALA LUMPUR, Najib said concerted efforts must be made to tap the entrepreneurial skills and creative talent in the younger set to realise Malaysia's aims to become a high-income advanced nation.

He said companies like Apple, Microsoft, Dell and Facebook were founded by the younger generation who had sharp entrepreneurial acumen and creative talents.

“All of them started with shortcomings initially, but they have succeeded now. They started at the garage, but now they own companies worth millions of dollars”.

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