Dubbed Vision 2020, it was to see Malaysia become a developed and integrated nation. Along the way, this vision was fleshed out with numbers.
Despite the Sputnik moments of losing out to the USSR in putting the first satellite and the first astronaut in space, Kennedy thought big enough to realise his dream in 1969 of putting an American as the first man on the moon.Now it hovers around US$12,000, far short of the World Bank target. Our growth trajectory was wrecked by two intervening financial crises of 1997 and 2008.Meantime, we have crafted Shared Prosperity as a vision to be achieved by 2030. Its construction started this year.
With exports comprising three-quarters of our output, we are a trade-reliant nation. The recent years have been tumultuous. China’s growth stagnates on account of its tariff spat with the United States. Given this dismal scenario, we can only expect our exports to grow one per cent next year. And businesses would fathom change with a change in political leadership and make their risk-management calculations.Malaysia will become more attractive to investors if there is a clear political-leadership-succession timeline.Political scrappings, if not resolved, can take the country to the brink of political instability. And this can have a debilitating impact on foreign direct investment inflows.
In order to attract investors, our political scene must be strong and stable. No nonsense gutter politics