LONDON: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is confident that Malaysia is on track to achieve its goal of becoming a high-income nation by 2020.
Speaking at the sixth Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (GSIAC) Annual Meeting on Tuesday, Najib said Malaysia must maintain its "forward momentum".
"What we must do is to always be prepared for changing conditions and external shocks that are beyond our control," he said in his opening remarks.
The National Transformation Programme’s (NTP) report card that was presented three weeks ago showed the country's economy on the right trajectory, while remaining resilient in the span of 70 months since its inception.
"Between 2009 and 2015, Gross National Income has increased by nearly 50 percent," said Najib.
Some 1.8 million jobs have been created, inflation has been kept low and Foreign Direct Investment has been growing at more than 22 percent per annum.
"Our growth models during that time have had outstanding results, allowing Malaysia to provide for the health and education of its people, almost completely eradicate poverty, build a world-class infrastructure and become a major global exporter," said Najib.
"We have achieved all these successes because we have not been averse to evaluate our performance in an open and transparent manner, and to make the changes that prevailing conditions demand," he said.
Najib who is also GSIAC chairman, expressed his hopes that the Council will help the Malaysian Government to make a quantum jump from a middle income to a high income economy by 2020.
This year's GSIAC annual meeting theme is “Malaysia’s competitiveness and sustainable development through a science-driven agenda”.
Najib said the theme is timely with the current global scenario of extreme competition and unpredictable global economic factors.
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