KKDW IDENTIFIES FIVE KEY FOCUSES FOR PEOPLE-CENTRIC RURAL DEVELOPMENT

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 6 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW) has identified five key focus areas as the foundation for the planning and implementation of rural development programmes this year to ensure sustainable, values-based and people-centric progress in rural areas.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also the Minister of Rural and Regional Development, said the five key focus areas are People, Place, Productivity, Prosperity and Prophetic (5Ps).

He said under the focus on People where social mobility is at its core, rural development efforts will begin with the empowerment of human capital.

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“Rural development must begin with people. Rural youth should not continue to inherit limitations but instead be afforded wide-ranging opportunities. Women, persons with disabilities and vulnerable groups must be given space, skills and trust to build more resilient lives,” he said.

Speaking at the KKDW’s 2026 New Year Message event here today, he said Place, the second focus, views rural areas as the nation’s new growth clusters through rural investment hub development, while Productivity focuses on ensuring stable and sustainable income by scaling up rural entrepreneurs.

Ahmad Zahid said the fourth focus, Prosperity, emphasises well-being, while Prophetic is grounded in the leadership values of Prophet Muhammad as guidance in rural development.

“Insya-Allah, when the 5P framework is implemented with clear direction and sincere intent, rural development will not be measured solely by figures and reports, but by a livelihood of greater dignity, renewed hope and strengthened confidence among the people that they have not been forgotten,” he said.

He said rural development must be managed with a corporate mindset to ensure that every ringgit spent delivers value returns to the people.

“It calls for efficiency, swift decision-making, as well as clear roles and timelines, so that what we do goes beyond merely fulfilling social responsibilities, but produces measurable and tangible outcomes that deliver direct value to the people,” he said.

He said a strategic thinking platform will be established as a rural think tank to guide the ministry’s work through focused, evidence-based policies, while documenting rural development achievements via journals, reports and books for public reference.

On another matter, Ahmad Zahid said Malaysia will observe World Rural Development Day on July 6, in line with its declaration by the United Nations.

“I want this observance, beyond promoting rural development, to also encompass aspects of community innovation, rural digitalisation and entrepreneurship development,” he added.

-- BERNAMA