Malaysia 1966 First Malaysia Plan

Malaysia has made notable progress in a number of areas of economic and social development. The country enjoys a relatively high standard of living and an atmosphere of social harmony in a multi-racial society. Nevertheless, there are many economic and social problems outstanding and much work to be done. The First Malaysia Plan seeks to attack these problems through a carefully conceived and vigorously executed effort at planned social and economic development. The success of this effort is an essential prerequisite to the achievement of the over-riding goal of a happier and more prosperous Malaysia.

The main socio-economic problems facing the nation at present are: 
(i) A heavy dependence upon two export products: rubber, whose world price is falling steadily, and tin, the known reserves of which are rapidly being depleted; 
(ii) A high rate of population increase, which poses a challenging problem of finding productive employment for each year's new entrants into the labour force and imposes a social cost in that resources which might have been used to increase levels of welfare must instead be devoted to supporting the growing population at the existing standard of living; 
(iii) An uneven distribution of income, which involves wide disparities between rural and town dwellers and between inhabitants of Malaya and the Borneo States, as well as among various social groups; 
(iv) A relatively low level of human resource development, which results in shortages of many of the skills needed to carry out development.

The First Malaysia Plan is designed to make a bold and imaginative attack on Malaysia's problems. The main objectives of the Plan are: 

(i) To promote the integration of the peoples and states of Malaysia by embarking upon a development plan explicitly designed to promote the welfare of all; 

(ii) To provide steady increases in levels of income and consumption per head; 

(iii) To increase the well-being of Malaysia's rural inhabitants and other low-income groups, primarily by raising their productivity and thus their income-earning capacity; 

(iv) To generate employment opportunities at a rate sufficient to provide productive work for new entrants to the labour force and lower the rate of unemployment; 

(v) To stimulate new kinds of economic activity, both agricultural and industrial, so as to reduce the nation's dependence on rubber and tin:

(vi) To educate and train Malaysians from all walks of life in order to equip them for effective participation in the process of economic and social development; 

(vii) To lay the groundwork for less rapid population growth by instituting an effective programme of family planning; 

(viii) To open for development sufficient new land to keep pace with the formation of new farm families and reduce the number of landless people desiring land for agricultural purposes; 

(ix) To provide electric power, transportation facilities and communica- tion services adequate to keep ahead of foreseen demands; 

(x) To progress with health and social welfare development, low-cost housing and a wide range of other projects.