Malaysia "deeply committed" to UN 2030 agenda, says Abdul Rahman

In an interview with Bernama in New York shortly before he returned to Kuala Lumpur on Friday evening, Abdul Rahman said Malaysia would actively push sustainable development as the nation moved towards the goal of becoming a high-income nation.

"Indeed, the SDGs principles are entrenched in our wide-ranging development endeavours under the 11th Malaysia Plan," said Abdul Rahman, whose address at the UN's High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2017 sought to highlight Malaysia's concrete steps to attain in a systematic and verifiable manner the 17 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda which was passed at a UN summit in September 2015.

The minister pointed out that Malaysia's success was tangibly evident in the area of poverty alleviation in which Malaysia had achieved the biggest reduction on the percentage of population under poverty line of all the ASEAN countries, as also confirmed by the Asian Development Bank.

"In 1970, the poverty level in Malaysia was 49.3 per cent. Malaysia was among the few countries that rapidly realised the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving poverty from 16.5 per cent in 1990 to 8.5 per cent in 2000, long before the target year 2015.

"As of 2014, Malaysia reduced the incidence of poverty to 0.6 per cent, achieving low poverty rates across ethnicity, gender and rural-urban stratum. The hard-core poverty, which is also the food poverty line, is low at 0.2 per cent," he said.

Malaysia has made substantial progress and, in fact, is on target to realise many of the 17 SDGs.

"We wanted to show to the UN that we are serious about adhering to the 2030 Agenda for the overall benefit of mankind. We wanted to emphasise that poverty alleviation, which was all the while on our national agenda, has been on target," he said.

Abdul Rahman also held a meeting with UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, a former Nigerian Minister of Environment, in which capacity she galvanised her country's efforts on climate action, protecting the natural environment and conserving resources for sustainable development.

"In my conversation with the UN deputy secretary-general, I voiced our concern over the issue of forest management regulations. Malaysia is a major supplier of palm oil and there are some incorrect notions about forest erosion because of palm cultivation.

"Palm oil takes just 17 per cent of the land while more than 50 per cent of it is still forest. Besides, one cannot overlook the overall economic implications of palm oil which provides jobs and helps farmers earn income," Abdul Rahman said.

Malaysia is working together with Indonesia on addressing the misgivings raised by the European Union on palm-oil cultivation's effect on environment.

"Let's not forget the economic impact of palm-oil cultivation on some four million people and as a major source of revenue. We are a responsible nation dedicated to sustainable palm oil. We apply Malaysian standards which are internationally recognised," he said.

"Palm oil plays an important role in poverty alleviation in Malaysia and helps indigenous people earn a living. She (UN deputy secretary general) agreed to share Malaysia's concern with European officials and politicians when she meets them," Abdul Rahman said.

The European Union (EU) has raised concerns over the impact of palm oil on forests in Southeast Asia. A resolution by the European Parliament in April called for the EU to phase out by 2020 the use of vegetable oils in bio-diesel because these are allegedly produced in an unsustainable way leading to deforestation.

The resolution includes palm oil, an important commodity for Indonesia and Malaysia, which produce nearly 90 per cent of the world's palm oil.

Malaysia and Indonesia's trade ministers are expected to meet end-July to discuss and coordinate palm oil issues, including organising a joint mission to Europe to engage with relevant parties and stakeholders.

The two nations are expected to jointly formulate a strategy in the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC), a joint initiative by Malaysia and Indonesia to work together in managing stockpiles and supporting prices.

Abdul Rahman said Malaysia had reduced its dependence on oil and gas revenue, and that the economy had been diversified.

"When Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak took over in 2009, about 41 per cent of our federal budget revenue came from oil and gas, but today it has been reduced to 14 per cent.

"We have diversified into a more service-orientated industry which includes automation and education," he said.

Abdul Rahman's visit was not just confined to the United Nations and the New York region. He also visited Washington DC and got feedback from the Malaysian Embassy staff on US-Malaysian bilateral relations. He disclosed that a group of U.S. Congressmen would visit Malaysia in a month's time.

"We look forward to this visit," he said, adding that the U.S. is a "good friend" of Malaysia in a number of areas, including politics, defence, trade and investment.