The Economic Affairs Ministry will focus on developing new industries to drive the nation’s economy to a higher level and in tune with current developments.

Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali said the generation of new growth sectors was one of the seven strategic thrusts in the shared prosperity economic model outlined by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his keynote address in conjunction with the Pakatan Harapan government’s one-year anniversary yesterday.

“As a ministry that focuses on economic growth and equitable distribution, the ministry will focus on the creation of new industries, which is part of the generation of new growth sectors.

“The emergence of new technologies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) requires investments and capacity creation in 15 proposed sectors as the main economic growth areas; among them, content industry (entertainment and digital), Asean hub (logistics, technology, research and regional offices) as well as smart and high-value agriculture,” he said.

In a statement today, he said the ministry had also embarked on implementing an inclusive regional development to address the development gap between the regions.

To that end, he said the ministry had approved development and infrastructure projects worth RM4.8 billion in Kedah and RM1.4 billion in Kelantan for the development of comprehensive economic centres nationwide.

Yesterday, Mahathir had outlined the country’s new economic direction, which includes restructuring and improving the business ecosystem; inclusive regional development; generating new growth sectors; enhancing talent reformation and national resources; and improving labour market and employee income.

- Bernama