These are some of the salient points in the 10th Malaysia Plan launched today by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The plan will be rolled out in two-year phases, to allow for greater flexibility.

Privatisation

Regulations to be loosened to promote private sector involvement in ventures with the public sector, besides the allocation of RM62.7 billion for private-public sector ventures.

Government to reduce ownership in non-core companies, while outsourcing non-core functions to the private sector.

Private sector to be key players in education, healthcare and infrastructure.

azlan Bumiputera assistance

Target of at least 30 percent bumiputera equity in business ownership.

A whole range of assistance for the bumiputera business community, based on development growth, from fixed price contracts for class F contractors for small businesses to concessions for privatisation contracts for mature companies.

GLCs and companies that receive government contracts must place more bumiputeras in high paying positions and provide them with international exposure.

‘Flexible bond' scholarships for bumiputera post-graduate students as well as the setting up of Real Estate Investment Trusts by Yayasan Amanah Hartanah Bumiputera to help the community venture into real estate and industrial asset ownership.

Subsidies

Prices for utilities and other subsidised items to be restructured every six months until these eventually match market prices.

Inclusive society

A total of 30 percent of decision-making positions in government to be filled by women, and one percent of the civil service to be made up of the disabled.

Rural and urban poor of all races to be provided with micro-financing and training to undertake small businesses.

The rural poor will be encouraged to consolidate their land for industrial plantation purposes, while students will be aided in urban-based boarding schools.

Special clinic days for low-income earners with chronic illnesses and '1Malaysia' clinics for the urban poor. More mobile clinics and flying doctor services for remote areas.

Rural access to clean water (99 percent in the peninsula, 95 percent Sarawak, 98 percent Sabah) and electricity (100 percent peninsula, 99 percent East Malaysia)

RM150 for low-income families to send their four- and five-year-old children to pre-schools.

Loans for New Village residents to finance their lease and home repairs and better amenities for estate villages.

Orang Asli and Sabah and Sarawak ethnic minorities

Orang Asli reserve land to be developed for agriculture use, with each household given two to six acres, and an additional 0.5 acres to build a house.

Poverty in Orang Asli communities to be halved to 25 percent, 22.8 percent to 12 percent for Sabah ethnic minorities and 6.4 percent to 3 percent for Sarawak ethnic minorities.

Special schools offering primary to Form Three secondary education to be set up in Sabah and Sarawak, besides special boarding facilities for other secondary schools in order to curb the high rate of dropouts.

Public Health

To halve the ratio to 200 patients per nurse and 597 per doctor.

Education

Greater privatisation in education through ‘Trust Schools' - public schools that are run privately and have autonomous decisions in key areas, including choosing curricula and teaching staff.

‘New Deal' whereby principals are rewarded for their school's performances.

Raising quality of teachers by re-branding profession through higher salaries and fast-tracking their career paths. Also, no guarantee of employment for trainee teachers.

Universities and other institutions of higher learning to compete for funding, part of which will be given to students who will be given the choice of attending private or public institutions.

Focus will also be on vocational training, with RM150 million allocated to train 20,000 school dropouts and RM7.5 million to train coaches, instructors and facilitators.

There will also be a tax rebate of 100 percent for companies that train their older staff.

Brain drain/gain and foreign unskilled labour

‘Talent Corporation' under Prime Minister's Department to maintain talent flow.

This corporation will maintain relationship with the Malaysian diaspora by attracting foreign talent through easier visa and property acquisition rules.

Bonded scholarships will be offered to high-performing Malaysian students in their final year of studies abroad.

Also, there will be a multi-tiered levy on foreign unskilled labour, with rates depending on the skill level. Rates will also increase with time.

Public safety

Installation of ‘panic buttons', motorcycle locking facilities and safety mirrors for crime prevention.

Severence pay

Likely lower severance pay, but in exchange, a relief fund for loss of employment will be set up by the government to provide retrenched persons with RM600 a month for up to six months.

Alternative energy / Green policy

Compulsory recycling likely to be imposed on households.

Consumers to contribute one percent of their electricity tariff to a Renewable Energy Fund, with renewable energy targeted to make up 5.5 percent of the total energy produced.

Green initiatives such as green townships and loans for green technology and efficient energy standards in industry.

Energy security through development of alternative sources, such as hydroelectrcity, coal and liquified natural gas by 2015.

Waste management

Federal government to take over solid waste management from local authorities, and to pass it to the private sector.

Tariff for sewerage to be incorporated into the water bill.

Small and medium enterprises

Heavy support for SMEs through loans, training, incubation programmes and access to government contracts.

Insolvency Law

Amended to allow first time bankrupts to "remain active in the economy".

Internet

Broadband penetration to be 75 percent by 2015. High speed broadband of up to 100 megabits per second will be rolled out by 2012.

Transport

Double-tracking railway system from Perlis to Johor.

Cashless for all public transport in Greater Kuala Lumpur area (with integrated public transport within 20km radius of the city centre, through light-rail transit system, KTM Komuter and bus rapid transit system).

Bus Rapid Transport system to be considered to link growth centres in the Iskandar region of Johor.

Arts

‘Arts Enclave' in cities, particularly in KL where the government will track the number of theatre and music performances, audience figures, etc, with international exhibitions and talent at institutions such as Istana Budaya.

 

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