‘We grew economy while caring for forests’

Malaysia has grown its economy and reduced poverty over the years, while successfully managing and sustaining its resources, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

He said the Malaysian economy expanded by 6.2 per cent on average every year between 1971 and last year, while per capita income rose by more than 20

times to reach about US$9,300 (RM38,800) last year.

“Equally important, our inflation rate has been stable and kept below four per cent on average during the same period while enjoying full employment since 1992,” Dr Mahathir said.

Malaysia’s absolute poverty rate, meanwhile, fell from about 50 per cent of households in 1970 to 0.4 per cent in 2016, under the old poverty line.

“Malaysia attained these socioeconomic achievements while managing and sustaining its resources,” he said in his keynote address at a side event on “Environmental Stewardship in Addressing Poverty to Achieve Sustainable Development for All” at the United Nations headquarters.

The side event was hosted by Malaysia, with support from Turkey and Pakistan.

Dr Mahathir said Malaysia had not only kept its pledge to maintain at least 50 per cent of its land mass under forest cover, but exceeded the initial commitment with forest cover currently at 55.3 per cent, or 18.3 million hectares.

“This represents the nation’s will and commitment to conserve and sustainably manage our forest, its flora and fauna. Our forest cover today is even far higher than that of most large European countries, including France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.”

Dr Mahathir said balancing development needs while maintaining environmental stewardship could not have been achieved without adopting pragmatic, progressive and sustainable policies.

These include enacting laws to govern land use, wildlife protection, administration and conservation of forests.

Malaysia is also under pressure to comply with commitments under various multilateral environmental agreements and adhere to trade regulations such as labelling and standards to meet international environmental requirements.

“Although Malaysia has put in place efforts to prevent environmental loss, we still face challenges from our growing socioeconomic development needs.

“The increasing population of Malaysia brings with it an increased demand for food, water and other infrastructures which places pressure on our natural resources and environment.”

The impact of climate change further adds to this pressure.

“In the 11th Malaysia Plan (20162020), substantial resources have been allocated to implement a wide range of actions to address climate change as well as to further enhance our conservation and restoration efforts.”