Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has announced 15 other initiatives under the government's Economic Transformation Programme.

Encompassing several National Key Economic Areas such as education, healthcare, agriculture and retail and wholesale, one of the projects is the ‘Unified Malaysia Sale'.

Currently, there are three main annual sale events organised by Tourism Malaysia.

NONE "To create stronger growth for the retail sector, the Unified Malaysia Sale will unite the three main sale events into one central, coordinated event," said Najib ( right ) when announcing the projects at the Securities Commission, Bukit Kiara, this evening.

With the expectation to increase the Gross National Income (GNI) by RM1.78 billion annually, the project will be handled jointly by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism and the Tourism ministries.

"This will create greater spill-over effects, increase tourist arrivals and spending, create more jobs and most importantly, increased business profitability," he said.

Wide range of activities

Domestic trade ministry secretary-general Mohd Zain Mohd Dom said that although the Unified Malaysia Sale will unite the three sale events, the existing sale events will still be carried out.

"This time, the sale will incorporate as many sectors as possible. For the first time, there will be more than 50 sectors and sub-sectors," he said.

Apart from the usual sectors such as textiles, footwear and leather goods, the Unified Malaysia Sale will see participation from even bus companies, spas and wellness centres, telecommunication companies, travel agencies and hotels.

"So there's a wide range of economic activities," said Mohd Zain.

The sale will start from June 15 this year to August 31.

Altogether, the 15 initiatives are worth RM63.38 billion in investments, RM66.31 billion in Gross National Income and 63,531 new jobs.