KUALA LUMPUR: Six of the poorest states in the country will receive significantly higher federal allocations compared to other states under the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP), says Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.
He said allocations for the six states, namely Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis, had the highest allocations since 2021 and would be maintained in 13MP.
This was in response to Mohd Nazri Abu Hassan (PN-Merbok) in Parliament on Monday (March 3), who asked if 13MP's project planning would consider the socio-economic disparities of states as well as efforts to bridge regional development gaps.
Rafizi said bridging such gaps would require significant effort and cooperation from state governments, noting that federal government efforts and allocations alone would not be enough.
"It is a shared responsibility that must be borne by respective state governments as only with such cooperation can we attract investments and businesses.
"If closing this gap could be solved by a request for large allocations from the Federal Government, that has already been happening since 2021 and continues to this day.
"Yet there are no clear signs that the gap is being effectively closed in certain states," he said during Question Time at the Dewan Rakyat on Monday.
He added that state governments could play their part by adopting business-friendly economic frameworks that need to be developed collectively with other stakeholders.
