The Ninth Malaysian Plan (Malay: Rancangan Malaysia ke-9), abbreviated as '9MP', is a comprehensive blueprint prepared by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister's Department and the Finance Ministry of Malaysia with approval by the Cabinet of Malaysia. The plan allocates the national budget from 2006 to 2010 in regard to all economic sectors in Malaysia.
The blueprint was announced on 31 March 2006, and was unveiled by the fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Parliament.
The economic development plan was unveiled at a time when Malaysia was starting to recover from the Asian financial crisis and challenging economic conditions as a result of high oil prices. The US-led Iraq invasion in 2003 resulted in a rise in oil prices to about US$60/barrel by August 2005, which was a few months before the plan was unveiled.[1] These two factors were mentioned in Prime Minister's speech when tabling the Ninth Malaysia Plan on 31 March 2008 besides SARS, bird flu, and the 2004 Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami.[2]
Overview
The plan envisages Malaysia's GDP to grow (in real terms) by 6.0% per annum over the 2006 to 2010 period, and highlights five ways for Malaysia to move forward economically.[3] These thrusts are:
To move the economy up the value chain
To raise the capacity for knowledge and innovation and to nurture a 'first class mentality'
To address socio-economic inequalities constructively and productively
To improve the standard and sustainability of quality life
To strengthen institutional and implementation capacity
180 primary, 229 secondary and full boarding schools to be built
Culture, arts and heritage
RM11.62 mil less for culture
Mid Term Review
Mid-term review was tabled in Parliament on 26 June 2008. An additional MYR30 billion has been allocated to the plan, making the total allocation MYR230 billion. The extra MYR30 billion spending will be spent on:-