The Malaysian government introduced its ‘Twelfth Malaysian Plan’ which aims to introduce a number of reforms to ensure economic growth.

According to Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the Twelfth Plan is anchored on three key themes, namely resetting the economy, strengthening security, wellbeing and inclusivity as well as advancing sustainability. Four catalytic policy enablers, namely developing future talent, accelerating technology adoption and innovation, enhancing connectivity and transport infrastructure as well as strengthening the public service will support the achievement of these themes, the prime minister added.

For its first theme, over the next five years, concerted efforts will be undertaken to rejuvenate all the economic sectors, namely services, manufacturing, agriculture, mining and quarrying as well as construction. Meanwhile, productivity growth will be boosted, export markets will be expanded, financial intermediation ecosystem effectiveness and role of industrial estates and food production areas will be enhanced, while governance and policies will be improved.

Its second theme will focus on strengthening security, wellbeing and inclusivity. It focuses on ensuring national defence and security, crime prevention efforts as well as rehabilitation and emergency preparedness will be intensified. The third theme focuses on advancing green growth as well as enhancing energy sustainability and transforming the water sector.

In its first policy enabler, the growth targets of the Twelfth Plan will require the development of highly skilled talent to support the demands of a growing economy. However its plans noted that there are still persistent issues in the labour market and education sector. These issues include a low percentage of compensation of employees (CE) to GDP, inefficient labour market, limited access to quality education and weaknesses in the governance of educational institutions.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a spike in the unemployment rate and brought about new norms in the way people work and how businesses operate,” the plan states. “Hence, the Twelfth Plan will focus on developing future talent by realigning the labour market, education and training. Among the key initiatives for realigning the labour market are promoting equitable CE and labour participation, as well as strengthening labour market support. In addition, elevating the quality of education and leveraging emerging technologies will be the key initiatives to improve the education and training system.”

In its second policy enabler, the plan noted that the digitalisation process will be accelerated and the adoption of advanced technology, particularly the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, will be promoted in achieving a high technology-based economy.

Its third policy enabler, focuses on ‘enhancing Connectivity & Transport Infrastructure’ while the fourth focuses on ‘Strengthening the Public Service.’