Becoming a High-Income Nation

These goals will be reached jointly. The Government will not seek short-term progress on one goal at the expense of delaying progress on the others.

The Government defines the high-income threshold at a per capita income of about RM48,000 or USD15,000 in 2020, based on World Bank's current definition of high income.

Therefore, achieving high-income status by 2020 will require an annual real growth rate of about 6 percent in the next 10 years (Exhibit 1).The Government's high-income objective is not just a quantitative target. It is also about Malaysia becoming an advanced, developed nation with an economy possessing the characteristics of a high-income economy, such as a thriving services sector, a balance between private consumption and investment as well as productivity levels that are similar to those of regional leaders.

The way in which Malaysia grows to achieve this high-income target will be inclusive in nature, enabling all Malaysians to share in the benefits.

Government will encourage employment-rich growth that creates 3.3 million new jobs, of which half will require diploma or vocational qualifications.The investments made in education and training will ensure that more Malaysians are able to participate in these new opportunities. In addition, specific attention will be paid to lifting the incomes of the bottom 40 percent of households, with a target of increasing the monthly mean income of this group from RM1,440 in 2009 to RM2,300 in 2015, as stated in the Tenth Malaysia Plan.

The measures to achieve high-income status must be sustainable in both economic and environmental terms, meeting present needs without compromising those of future generations.

We will achieve growth without running down Malaysia's natural resources. Additionally, we will reduce our dependence in oil and gas as the primary economic contributor. Our fiscal position will be made sustainable, with a stronger focus on private sector-led investment to avoid reliance on public funding. In environmental terms, the Government is committed to the stewardship and preservation of the natural environment and resources by ensuring that they are properly priced into the cost of development.