Wawasan 2020
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Through Gross domestic product and Globalization
Wawasan 2020 is also the title of an article by William Greider about globalisation in Malaysia.
Strategic challenges
Mahathir outlined nine strategic challenges that Malaysia must overcome to achieve Vision 2020.
- Challenge 1: Establishing a united Malaysian nation made up of one Bangsa Malaysia (Malaysian Race).
- Challenge 2: Creating a psychologically liberated, secure and developed Malaysian society.
- Challenge 3: Fostering and developing a mature democratic society.
- Challenge 4: Establishing a fully moral and ethical society.
- Challenge 5: Establishing a matured liberal and tolerant society.
- Challenge 6: Establishing a scientific and progressive society.
- Challenge 7: Establishing a fully caring society.
- Challenge 8: Ensuring an economically just society, in which there is a fair and equitable distribution of the wealth of the nation.
- Challenge 9: Establishing a prosperous society with an economy that is fully competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient.
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Song
Wawasan 2020 is also a patriotic song on the same idea sung in Malay. The song was composed by Farish Daniel.
Revisions to the vision
In view of economic slowdown amid the financial crisis of 2007–2010, Prime Minister of the then ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government, Najib Razak in August 2009, stated that in order for Malaysia to achieve a developed nation status by 2020, the country has to grow at an annual rate of 8% over the next 10 years. He cited that a lower hypothetical growth of 6% per annum would delay Malaysia's vision to become a developed country by 10 years to 2030. Malaysia’s GDP growth rate averaged 7.2% per annum in the 1990s, and slowed to 5.4% per annum in the following decade. Najib also stated the need to redefine and recalibrate the vision in terms of how to achieve it, as well as its timeline. Besides, Malaysia has to undertake bold economic reforms, and Najib had tasked the National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC) to carry out a review of the vision. The NEAC is expected to publish its report by end 2009, with a second report on implementation 6 months after that.
Just before the downfall of BN federal government in the 2018 general election (GE14), Najib had launched the National Transformation 2050 or Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50) initiative, where by 2050 Malaysia will be "a nation of calibre, with a new mindset". The TN50 was allegedly initiated by Najib to undermine Mahathir Mohamad's Wawasan 2020 legacy. The TN50 had somehow fallen through and was officially dismantled with some aspirations maintained by the Pakatan Harapan (PH)'s Malaysia Baharu government after the GE14.
Outcome
In 2020, Mahathir Mohamad, the prime minister of Malaysia after Pakatan Harapan coalition came to power in 2018, officially announced the failure of the vision to achieve the status of developed nation. Although Wawasan 2020 did not fully achieve its objectives, Mahathir argued that other aspects of the vision had been achieved such that Malaysia has become more prosperous and with better infrastructure. Mahathir blamed his handpicked successors Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Razak for failing to properly implement his plan.
In terms of GDP growth, Malaysia last achieved yearly GDP growth of more than 7% in 2000. Since then, the Malaysian GDP only averages between 4% and 5% until 2018.
In terms of how well Malaysians are meeting the nine challenges listed by Mahathir in 1990, "The Full Frontal" website stated that challenges no 4 and no 7 are almost fully met while other challenges still have lots of room for improvement.