Although Vision 2020 did not fully achieve what was planned, Malaysia has made a lot of progress following the launch of the vision in 1991, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

“Although we did not fully realise the vision, we have to a certain extent achieved Vision 2020. If we compare the Malaysia of today, 2020, with Malaysia at the time the vision was launched in 1991, we can see the difference.

“The people are more prosperous, the country is more prosperous and development is evident throughout the country, with better infrastructure. The fact is many aspects of Vision 2020 have been achieved,” he said in the Kool Talk segment of Kool FM radio this morning.

Mahathir said what happened was that Malaysia had not yet reached a stage where it could be considered a developed country because it fell short in certain fields.

“And this is what caused us to admit we did not achieve Vision 2020,” Mahathir, the architect of Vision 2020, added.

The prime minister said Vision 2020 outlined nine challenges that the country needed to overcome to achieve developed status.

“To become a developed country, we wanted to overcome nine challenges under Vision 2020 - fostering a united country, a society with a liberated spirit, a democratic society, a moral and ethical society, a liberal society, a scientific and progressive society, a caring society, an economically just society and a prosperous society.

“That was our aim and if we had achieved these nine objectives, apart from progress in other areas like education, technology, social equity and the like, then we would have been considered a developed country,” he said.

Mahathir hoped that the people would understand the challenges outlined under Vision 2020.

“I hope people would no longer say that Vision 2020 means having a flying car. That is not our vision; that might be progress achieved by other countries,” he added.

- Bernama