Kedah Menteri Besar Ahmad Bashah Md Hanapiah is all smiles today as Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak approved his request for a RM15 million project.

The project is to build a complex for small-time traders in Kuala Muda, Sungai Petani.

Ahmah Bashah made the request during his maiden speech in front of 500 people today who gathered at the launch of the Sungai Petani Urban Transformation Centre.

Najib gave his thumbs up on the spot, after Ahmad Bashah said: "As the new Menteri Besar, I want to help the traders get a better place and upgrade their lifelihood."

"Since this is his first request, and since the UTC centre also cost RM15 million, I approve the project," he told Ahmad Bashah, who was grinning from ear to ear.

So far, this is Ahmad Bashah's first request for development projects for Kedah since he took office yesterday.

However, despite the announcement, the crowd seems lukewarm and did not cheer as heartily as they usually do when development projects come to town.

The crowd of about 500 is considered tiny for the launch of a centre which was a brainchild of Najib’s, and has reportedly been utilised by 3.7 million people since 2013.

Many left early with their goody bags before Najib left the building and left reporters, who were expecting a press conference, high and dry.

M'sia on track

During his speech, Najib assured that the economy is right on track, and by 2020, Malaysia would be a developed nation.

Ironically, his fiercest critic Dr Mahathir Mohamad was the one who mooted vision 2020 during his 22-year rule as prime minister.

Najib has just replaced Mahathir's son Mukhriz - the former MB - with Ahmad Bashah, who engineered a coup with 14 other division leaders against the latter's leadership.

Najib also boasted that the country's performance in various sectors have improved.

"Malaysia is recognised by international bodies World Economic Forum (WEF) and the World Bank for stable economic growth.

"In 2015, WEF ranked Malaysia as the 20th country out of 144 across the globe.

"According to World Bank, Malaysia is ranked 18 among 189 countried and beating Taiwan (19), Switzerland (20), Thailand (26), Netherlands (27) and Japan (29), in terms of economic performance," Najib said.

"In terms of Asean countries, Malaysia ranked second in Asean in terms of economic growth, after Singapore.

"According to Bank Negara, Malaysia is the only country in Asia that experiences 4.7 percent of economic growth at the moment," he added.