National Blue Ocean Strategy: Billions of public funds saved - PM

The government has managed to save about RM3.6 billion after implementing various initiatives under the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) since 2009.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said, the strategy has allowed the government to implement more high-impact projects at a lesser cost.

Citing the Urban Transformation Centres (UTC) as an example, he said the government had saved RM1.5 billion by renovating and reusing existing underutilised buildings at a minimal cost.

"We provided a new and essential service for the people, and saved money. In fact, by not constructing from scratch, we saved RM100 million for every UTC," he said in his speech at the International Conference on Blue Ocean Strategy at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre here today.

The UTC is a one-stop centre opened nationwide that provides various services under one roof from 8am to 10pm, seven days a week.

Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said 35.3 million people had patronised the UTCs between June 2012 and July 2016.

READ: Success of NBOS determines public happiness - PM

Besides that, he said other initiatives such as the reassigning of some 7,400 police officers from their desk jobs to the frontlines of national security had saved a substantial amount of government funds.

“By repositioning, instead of hiring, training and paying that number of new officers, we saved RM1.3 billion.

“We would otherwise have to spend, while the office duties are tilled by civil servants from other departments, where streamlining needed to be made," he said.

The PM said the joint training and collaboration between the police and military through NBOS initiatives have benefited the country greatly in terms of national security.

He said the police-military collaboration in sharing training facilities have further saved RM700 million of public funds, as the government did not need to build new police training centres.

“Bottom line, we see how the NBOS principles are able to provide high impact action plans with minimal cost and time,” he added.

Also present at the event was the Prime Minister’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, King Mswati III of Swaziland, Nauru President Baron Waqa, Thailand Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-O-cha, Maldives Vice President Abdullah Jihad, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa.