The Barisan Nasional (BN) government will continue to give emphasis and priority to the rural sector as long as it receives the mandate from the people to administer the nation, said deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Thus, he said the government wanted the rural areas to be turned into new economic growth centres for the people and subsequently reduce the migration of the younger generation to the urban areas.

"The rural community is important to the country, they generate income from produce such as agricultural products, fisheries and other materials required by the people, the rural sector has special potentials.

"Besides comprising hard-working residents, they (rural community) have a large group of intellects and the capability to generate new ideas which could yield products and services to bring about higher income," he said here today.

He said this in his speech at the 2015 National-Level Rural Inspiration Award Presentation which was also attended by Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, and about 10,000 others.

At the function, Muhyiddin also gave away the prize to the main winner of the 2015 National-Level Rural Inspiration Award namely Kampung Batu 16 from Muar, Johor with the innovative multipurpose project, which won a cash prize of RM50,000 and a visit abroad.

The second prize went to Kampung Kundur Hulu from Rembau, Negeri Sembilan while in third place was Koperasi Agro Belatik, Kampung Belatik from Sik, Kedah who won a cash prize of RM40,000 and RM30,000 respectively together with a visit abroad.

Muhyiddin said the 11th Malaysia Plan (RMK-11) played an important role in developing the rural areas particularly in providing basic infrastructure to the rural community.

He said that under RMK-11, the rural areas especially in Sabah and Sarawak were given special focus where the government fully understood that basic infrastructure such as the road must be built for the convenience of the people.

"The villages will remain to be villages but we want them to be better and successful so that the community will have an assured and successful future, the government will implement this initiative in a continuous manner," he said.

Under the RMK-11, he said the government planned to formulate more technical and vocational training programs to equip the younger generation with the right skills.

This would indirectly ensure that the younger generation in the rural areas would be more successful and secured.