Malaysia records better SDG performance in 2019 - Mustapa

Good performance was recorded for all 17 goals, he said today at the virtual launch of the “SDG Indicators, Malaysia, 2019” report -- the second report of the country's SDG indicators published by the Department of Statistics Malaysia.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes 17 goals based on five focus areas, namely people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership.

The goals are measured according to 247 indicators set at the global level in 2019.

On indicator assessment, Mustapa said for Malaysia, 128 indicators or 52 per cent were available while 73 indicators or 29 per cent needed to be developed.

“A total of 13 per cent or 31 indicators are not available while 15 indicators or six per cent are not relevant to Malaysia,” he said.

Mustapa said the national SDG progress status was also measured based on the performance of 108 statistical indicators.

Among aspects that showed positive progress was under the people focus area, with the overall incidence of poverty improving to 5.6 per cent (405,441 households) in 2019 from 7.6 per cent (525,743 households) in 2016, he said.

Meanwhile, the prosperity focus area showed the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita at constant prices grew 3.9 per cent in 2019 compared with 3.6 per cent in 2018.

“In line with the growth in the digital economy especially in the new normal following COVID-19, the percentage of individuals using the Internet has risen 3.0 percentage points to 84.2 per cent in 2019 from 81.2 per cent in the preceding year.

“For the Internet usage in the cities and rural areas, they increased 2.6 percentage points and 3.3 percentage points, respectively,” he said.

He added that all elements comprising the five focus areas would be continued in the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) after having been incorporated into the country's developmental policies such as the 11th Malaysia Plan and Shared Prosperity Vision 2030

“In fact, a new approach will be taken under 12MP to deal with poverty through a targeted programme based on local needs across all races.

“This is because the poverty issues differ according to demographics and current situations. The way to handle it must suit the local conditions,” he explained.

According to him, the SDG implementation requires commitment from all quarters to continue the people development agenda.

“Hence the role played by the All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia on SDG (APPGM-SDG) is very critical to assist in achieving the Agenda 2030 goals.

"The group, which was established following the Dewan Rakyat approval on Oct 19, 2019, comprises 10 Members of Parliament including me,” he said.

Mustapa said APPGM-SDG was involved in SDG at the Parliamentary level by conducting local issue mapping activities and recommending solution ideas.

In the first phase, the group made field visits to 10 parliamentary constituencies in four states.

Next year, he said, APPGM-SDG would do the same programme in 20 parliamentary areas, especially in states that were not visited in 2020.

“The implementation of SDG goals is a continuation from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that ended in 2015.

“The legacy and achievements of of MDGs over 15 years have provided valuable lessons in our effort to achieve SDG goals,” he added.