Media Conference Statement (2) by Lim Kit Siang at 2010 DAP National Conference at Hotel Syuen Hotel, Ipoh on Sunday, 17^th January 2010 at 1pm: 

Najib should report to Parliament on March 15 on the outcome of the K-Economy Master Plan 2001-2010

Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said yesterday that the government would announce the new economic model for the country within a month.

One of the first announcements made by Datuk Seri Najib Razak when he became the sixth Prime Minister was that a new economic model for Malaysia would be introduced to ensure that Malaysia make a quantum leap to escape the middle-income trap to become a high-income country.

Najib said the new economic model would provide more emphasis on innovation and creativity to help workers increase their income.

Last May, the Second Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said the new economic model would be announced in the second half of the year. Why has this timeline for the new economic model been postponed until this year?

Should Malaysians place confidence in the promise of a new economic model to effect a quantum leap for Malaysia’s economic development to become a high-income country based on greater innovation and creativity among Malaysians?

Ten years ago, the Barisan Nasional government announced the K-Economy Master Plan as a ten-year blueprint to catapult the Malaysian economy from a production-based to a knowledge-based economy under the Third Outline Perspective Plan (2001-2010).

If the K-Economy Master Plan had been successful, Malaysia would be having a new economic model already. However, the nation and people have forgotten the K-Economy Master Plan and its 136 recommendations.

One of the recommendations of the K-Economy Master Plan was to establish the target that by 2010, all academicians in public universities would have Ph.D. qualifications.

Has this 2010 target been achieved? Definitely not. In fact, I do not think the number of university lecturers who now have Ph.D qualifications have reached even 50 per cent!

I call on Najib to give a report to Parliament when it reconvenes on March 15, 2010 on a progress report of the K-Economy Master Plan in the past decade and what has happened to all its 136 recommendations.

*Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary leader & MP for Ipoh Timor