Vision 2020

" Vision 2020 " or in Malay " Wawasan 2020 " is a long-term and large-scale project launched by the State of Malaysia in 1991 , with which it aims to be one of the world's first fully developed industrial nations in 2020 - on a par with countries like Great Britain , France , Germany and Japan .

structure

The state framework project that Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad , who had been the prime minister for many years, is divided into around 70 individual projects, among others

• the development of research and high technology ,
• Expansion of school and university systems,
• the electrification of the country,
  • in the context of which u. v. a. the Bakun Dam project has started to be planned,
• the development of an internationally competitive automotive industry , which essentially went hand in hand with the development of Proton as a cooperation partner of Mitsubishi ,
• and building a tourism industry
• including the corresponding special economic zones, such as
  • Putrajaya for the administration of the state,
  • the Multimedia Super Corridor for information technology
  • or Langkawi Island for tourism .

advancement

The state promotes the projects by means of cheap land leases , with tax policy and gentle coercion - for example by advising industrial companies that want to settle in Malaysia to create holiday destinations for their employees. The companies become shareholders in hotel complexes such as B. Motivated on Langkawi, or participation in such crossover projects is enforced through an approval process .

National significance and international response

Wawasan 2020 received little international attention, but it does play a certain role in the everyday life of Malaysians, as the rather autocratically governed state, whose policy is based on the highly successful city-state of Singapore , “doesn't give up” on this major project. The project has already been running for 15 years, and since it was planned to last almost 30 years, it is now (2006) half-time.

This intensive state pursuit of the project can be studied in the undulating ups and downs of activities in the Bakun project: when activities came to a standstill in the Asian crisis in 1996, when the award of contracts for turbines and machinery to European companies was stopped and canceled, many thought , now it is over with the great plans of Dr. M, as the Malaysians briefly call it, and his vision project 2020 is coming to an end. However, with the availability of new perspectives as a new economic upswing, the Bakun project, under new leadership, also revived.

Organization in "Public Private Partnership"

Wherever it seems possible, the state strives to have the individual large-scale projects privately owned. Malaysian corporate conglomerates with Chinese-born family or clan roots often come into play here. However, in order to become the sponsor of one of the vision projects, intensive cooperation with the Malaysian authorities is necessary, and the influence of the native Malays, the Bumiputras, on events in the multi-ethnic state of Malaysia should not be underestimated. Occasionally, Chinese sponsoring companies have already given up their respective vision projects, as happened in 1996 for the Bakun Dam.

Intermediate result

The assessment of the Wawasan 2020 project is quite ambivalent and differs depending on the national or international point of view. Many Malaysian observers consider it unrealistic to be able to achieve the goal of a fully developed industrial state by 2020 because the Malaysians lack too many prerequisites. On the other hand, however, it cannot be overlooked that in some regions the state has been able to develop significantly on the flagship projects of Vision 2020, such as tourism in Langkawi.

Other projects, such as the automotive industry, have not emerged from hesitant attempts at internationalization; Hardly anyone outside of Malaysia still speaks of the Proton car brand. B. is to be regarded as a failure.