MALAYSIA has entered into the “very high” human development category, paving the way for a future-focused economy.
According to the United Nation’s report entitled “The Next Frontier: Human Development in the Anthropocene”,
Malaysia’s human development index (HDI) value increased from 0.643 to 0.810, which is an increase of 26%, between 1990 and 2019.
For the same period, Malaysia’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita increased by about 177.3% and life expectancy at birth increased by 5.3 years.
“As a nation, we are improving in areas measuring health, education, standards of living, carbon dioxide emissions and material footprint,” it said.
Making informed choices and investments will help our country power its way out of the COVID-19 aftermath, and set course for a more resilient, future-focused economy, advised United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative for Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei Darussalam, Niloy Banerjee.
“We need nothing short of a great transformation in the way we live, work and interact to help chart a course toward the next frontier of human progress. We are in an unprecedented moment in the history of our planet with warning signs writ large. We have a choice.
“We need to design and speedily execute social, economic, and environmental transformations needed to rebalance our systems, in order for humans and the planet to thrive together,” Niloy added.
Humans wield more power over the planet than ever before, pointed out UNDP administrator Achim Steiner.
“In the wake of COVID-19, record-breaking temperatures, unprecedented storms and forest fires, and rising inequality, it is time to use that power to redefine what we mean by progress, where our carbon and consumption footprints are no longer hidden.
“As this report shows, no country in the world has achieved high human development without putting immense strain on the planet. We could be the first generation to right this wrong.
“That is the next frontier of human development,” Steiner remarked. – Dec 20, 2020
