Engagement sessions to gather feedback from all the state governments for the preparation of the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP), which began yesterday, are expected to be completed at the end of August, says Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Dr Radzi Jidin (photo, above).

He said the sessions are aimed at getting the views of stakeholders, state governments, industry, academics and non-governmental organisations to ensure the planning process for the 12MP is more inclusive.

"These engagement sessions are the first to be held after we concluded the Kick-Off Conference of the 12MP yesterday and will be held in all states in stages until end-August.

“As a responsible government, we develop a policy using not only a top-down approach but also a bottom-up approach, and this feedback will be combined to formulate a policy that gives the optimum impact especially to the people,” he told reporters after the 12MP engagement session with the Melaka state government yesterday.

He said the views and feedback from all quarters will be presented in Parliament in the third quarter of next year before the implementation of the 12MP in 2021.

Also present were Chief Minister Adly Zahari and State Secretary Hasim Hasan.

Radzi added that at the engagement session, the federal government via the Ministry of Economic Affairs will exchange views with the state government on the aspirations, focus and direction of the 12MP, besides helping the state government realise its development agenda.

To a question, he said the main clusters for the 12MP have not been outlined in detail but noted that one of the core thrusts in the nation’s development agenda is ‘Shared Prosperity’.

Meanwhile, Adly said the main focus areas for Melaka in the 14MP include traffic congestion, water supply, health and port development.

"This engagement session is a good initiative of the ministry as it expedites the implementation process at the ministry level besides having a direct impact on the people,” he said.

- Bernama