Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said the country would be close to achieving developed nation status by 2020 – as envisioned in Wawasan 2020 – had his successors stuck to the plan instead of being obsessed with leaving their own legacies.

"I believe completely that this country could be developed up to the point of becoming a developed country by 2020 if we had stuck to the system we used to develop the country...