PETALING JAYA: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Mustapa Mohamed says Putrajaya will be employing a new approach to combat poverty under the 12th Malaysia Plan, aiming to go beyond racial lines.
Mustapa, fondly known as Tok Pa, said the new approach will be through targeted programmes according to the needs of local communities, regardless of race.
“This is because the issue of poverty varies according to demographics and the current situation. For example, poverty in Perlis and Sabah.
“Hence, the manner in which poverty is addressed has to be appropriate with the local situation,” he said at the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators report today.
Mustapa said Malaysia’s SDG performance in 2019 had improved based on the 17 goals set, although this was hampered in 2020 with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among the areas which showed positive growth was community development, with the percentage of households living under the poverty line improving from 7.6% in 2016 to 5.6% in 2019.
“In line with the development of the digital economy, especially with the new norms brought about by Covid-19, the percentage of individuals using the internet grew to 84.2% in 2019 compared to 81.2% in the year before.
“The same goes for internet usage in urban and rural areas, both showing an increase of 2.6% and 3.3% respectively,” he said.
He said Malaysia remained committed to achieving its SDG goals with all elements outlined in the SDG absorbed into the 11th Malaysia Plan and 2030 Shared Prosperity Vision, adding that this will continue in the 12th Malaysia Plan. – FMT