Projects implementation this year better, more efforts needed — PM Anwar

07 Nov 2023

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the implementation of projects this year is better compared to last year but is still unsatisfactory.

Speaking at the Finance Ministry’s monthly assembly today, Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, told all ministries to expedite the implementation of planned projects before the end of this year.

“Projected expenditure and implementation for 2023 have to reach 90 per cent. We hope the implementation can be further accelerated,” he said.

Anwar also asked Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz to coordinate the implementation speed of investment projects in Malaysia.

“The challenge has always been on the execution of major decisions, including projects, which has always been a problem…we want the ease of doing business,” he said.

Meanwhile, Anwar asked Bank Negara and Petronas, with expertise in information and communication technology (ICT), to share the technology with government departments.

Anwar said he had discussed with Petronas chairman Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh and Bank Negara Governor Datuk Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour so government departments could utilise the expertise.

“The field of ICT in the public sector needs to be improved and changed rapidly, in line with the changes in the ICT field, which are now considered challenging and extraordinary,” he said.

To improve expertise and skills in Malaysia’s ICT, the people’s welfare remains the priority of his government.

“This is a matter of digital transformation, energy transition, a new roadmap for industrialisation; it is all a question of reaching something high.

“But in reaching for the sky, let us not forget to be rooted in the earth… we also have to think about the basic problems of the people, like the price of goods, school toilets, and potholed roads,” he said.

Source: Bernama