03/04/2012 (Bernama) - The Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) said 72 of the 131-entry point projects (EPPs) under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) have taken off in just over a year of implementation.

Over 83 per cent of 110 projects announced that were projected to create 313,741 new jobs were either operational or have commenced work, Pemandu said in its ETP Annual Report 2011.

"More importantly, the confidence created has had immediate knock-on effects on the economy as private investment reached RM94 billion last year, surpassing the target of RM83 billion," it said.

The Gross National Income (GNI) contribution of 11 National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs), excluding Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley to avoid double counting, has reached RM589 billion, surpassing the full-year target of RM494 billion.

The GNI contribution of RM589 billion accounted for 70 per cent of national GNI of RM830.7 billion, clearly indicating the weight of the NKEAs on the economy.

Meanwhile, Pemandu has revised the committed investments, projected GNI contribution in 2020 and projected jobs created in the 2011 Annual Report, due to changes in business plans over the next five years, in tandem with changing business dynamics.

The recalibration has resulted in a revised committed investment of RM179.2 billion, GNI of RM129.5 billion and 313,741 new jobs, the report said, adding that, this rigorous exercise is extremely useful to help establish clear accounting and best practices that would ensure accuracy.

Pemandu said all 12 NKEAs that drive economic growth made good progress last year.

Under the Greater Kuala Lumpur (GKL)/Klang Valley NKEA, two agencies have been established. InvestKL was set up to attract global multinationals. Todate, Schlumberger, Paypal, IBM and Toshiba have set up their operations or committed investments. IBM will invest RM1 billion in its global technology services delivery centre in Cyberjaya over the next five years while Toshiba has set up a new RM268 million hub in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, 680 Malaysians have returned home under the Returning Expert Programme while 482 applications have received the Resident Pass under Talent Corp programmes focused on attracting and retaining foreign talent in the country.

In another development, the Klang Valley MyRapid Transit (MRT) project's first line (Sungai Buloh-Kajang) commenced in July 2011 and it is expected to be fully operational in 2017.

In addition, planning will start on the other two MRT lines using the Rail Transport Master Plan for GKL.

Under Oil, Gas and Energy, Malaysian Petroleum Resources Corporation was set up to streamline cooperation between the government and public sectors, attract investments and help local players become regional champions.

The Petroleum Income Tax Act Amendment Bill, which aimed to give incentives for exploration of marginal and gas field, has been approved while the Global Incentives for Trading Programme, which is focused on transforming Malaysia into Asia Pacific's hub for petroleum storage and trading business, already been launched.

For Financial Services, the Financial Sector Blueprint to chart the direction of the financial system over the next decade was launched. The country's Islamic banking assets have reached US$72.5 billion with an average growth rate of 20 per cent annually.

With CIMB Group's recent expansion into the Philippines and Maybank's acquisition of Kim Eng Holdings, Malaysian banks now have a presence in 14 markets globally.

In the case of Palm Oil and Rubber, yield in the upstream sector was up 19.73 tonnes per hectare (tph) from 18.03 tph in 2010. Oil extraction rate has also increased from 19.7 per cent in January to an average of 20.35 per cent in 2011.

In oleo chemicals, four companies -- Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Emery Oleochemicals Group, ICM Specialty Chemical Sdn Bhd and IOI Oleochemical Industries Bhd -- have committed investments of RM1.3 billion.

To develop health-based products, Malaysia is investing some RM20 million in six clinical trials in the US, Singapore and in the country, seeking medical breakthrough by using tocotrienols in palm oil.

On Tourism NKEA, the RM150 million Johor Premium Outlet, which is a joint venture between Genting Group and Simon Property Group, was opened.

MyCEB (Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau) secured 49 events with a projected economic impact of RM780 million.

In addition, more four-star and five-star hotel are coming into the market with more than RM1.4 billion investments in three new hotels. St Regis Kuala Lumpur will open its doors in 2014 and the Majestic Kuala Lumpur will be fully operational by year-end.

Under Electrical and Electronics sector, one of its major accomplishments was establishing capacity building enablers. These included wafer fab equipment refurbishment services in Kulim, light-emitting diodes test and certification services in Bayan Lepas and industrial utilities infrastructure in Samalaju, Sarawak.

Additionally, Agensi Innovasi Malaysia was established to drive innovation in Malaysia, inspiring a new generation of innovative entrepreneurs.

For Business Services, MAS Aerospace Engineering has partnered with GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd to set up a satelite centre that focuses on MRO services in Hyderabad, India.

On outsourcing and data centres sectors, Malaysia has secured 17 new multinational companies in 2011, which are either business outsourcing vendors or off-shoring entities.

Meanwhile, the Wholesale and Retail NKEA saw the implementation Small Retailer Transformation (TUKAR) programme which modernises traditional sundry shops. Some 519 sundry shops had been modernised with reports of an average 30 per cent increase in sales.

In addition, 55 workshops were transformed under the modernisation of automotive workshop (ATOM) programme.

On 1Malaysia Mall initiatives, Pemandu is currently in discussions with the Chinese and Vietnamese governments to develop malls and it is also looking at opportunities in India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Under the Communications Content and Infrastructure NKEA, more than 1,300 villages across the country were connected with wireless Internet services and close to 350,000 netbooks were distributed to low-income household families.

The new industry-led public-private collaboration to grow the export segment of the creative industry saw a 29.6 per cent increase in export revenue to RM337 million in the third quarter 2011 compared to RM260 million in 2010. This EPP is expected to register further growth this year as 22,000 hours of digital content will be made available during the year.

As for Education, the government has placed focus on the importance of technical education and vocational training and has provided key guidance to private players on scaling up of early childcare and education centres as well as improving early childcare and education training initiatives.

Educity@Iskandar has attracted eight world-class universities and colleges with committed investments totalling RM581.8 million while Epsom College Malaysia branch campus will be part of the Kuala Lumpur Education Cluster.

For Healthcare, Pemandu have made major policy changes such as the shortening of the compulsory services for pharmacist from three years to one year.

The Pharmaceutical Off-Take Agreement-Government Procurement for New Local Manufactured Pharmaceuticals has been agreed upon with implementation slated for this year.

The corporatisation of Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council, various tax incentives, automatic issuance of working permit for spouses of medical professionals and shorter processing time for healthcare tourist have been made available.

For Agriculture, the breakthrough achievement is in the introduction of reimbursable incentives to the anchor companies based on key performance indicator of work completed and production.