Having specific targets and an implementation plan will be what sets the National Transformation 2050 (TN50) initiative apart from the government's earlier Vision 2020.

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar said once the government has gathered feedback from members of the public, it would be handed to the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) that would come up with plans on how to implement it.

In contrast, he said, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Vision 2020 only contained general statements and aspirations, apart from the target of becoming a developed nation with at least US$15,000 in per capita gross national income.

“The challenges that were outlined were very, very general. They were wonderful challenges, wonderful aspirations, but they were very general […] there were no specific markers or milestones for us.

“Because of that, it was a wonderfully general aspiration that people can relate to because it never forced us into drilling down to specific targets.

“The difference with TN50 is that we want to drill down on specific targets. We want to have some specific targets about where we are in 2050, not just general statements, not just general aspirations,” he said at the Global Transformation Forum in Kuala Lumpur today.

Hence, apart from a statement of intent and aspirations, TN50 would also have an implementation document.

“So after I collect and the other ministries collect the thousands and tens of thousands of aspirations, I am going to hand it to (Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan) at the EPU, and he is going to figure out how to pay for it and make sure that these aspirations can be turned into reality,” he said.

Khairy was speaking on a panel together government chief secretary Ali Hamsa, International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed, and minister in charge of the EPU Abdul Rahman.

They were asked by the audience on what was different about TN50 from Vision 2020, and how it would be protected from political interference.

Bottom-up approach

Khairy, who has been going around the country to collect feedback from youths, said future governments would have to follow through with TN50 no matter who is in government.

This is because the TN50 is not the aspiration of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak or the current government alone. Instead, because of the bottom-up approach in formulating TN50, he said it would be represent the collective aspirations of all Malaysians.

“So you are duty-bound to see through these aspirations, because these are the aspirations of the people.

“This bottom-up approach, in essence, allows TN50 to be insulated from political interference, from political positioning, posturing, because this is truly the voice of the people,” he said.

Meanwhile, Abdul Rahman said despite the fact that Mahathir is now in the opposition, his brainchild Vision 2020 would not be abandoned.

“We are fully aware of the political concerns, but think we are mature enough that Vision 2020 would be respected as a very, very important document moving forward,” he said.

Nevertheless, he said it is important to transition to TN50 now, since the year 2020 is only three years away, and it would take a year or two to make plans for 2050.

TN50 was announced by Najib during his budget speech in October last year.

It was criticised as a rebuff against Mahathir who had formed the new opposition party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, a claim Najib has denied.