World Bank Confirms Sabah Is Malaysia's Poorest State
NEWS FOCUS KOTA KINABALU - The World Bank (WB) in Washington has confirmed through a new study that Sabah is not only the poorest state in Malaysia but it’s likely to stay that way for a considerable length of time given current efforts in poverty eradication.
The bottomline was that Malaysia’s economic planning in Sabah so far has not been for inclusive growth.
The study contained in the World Bank’s 2010 Malaysia Economic Monitor (MEM), the third in its series, was handed over last night to the state government by WB representative Emmanuel Jimenez, also Human Development Sector Director (East Asia and Pacific Region).
“Although efforts by the Government have somewhat brought down the poverty rate, it’s still not enough,” said Jimenez. “The MEM shows that Sabahans continue to struggle to make ends meet. This is more evident in the outskirts of the towns.”
Sabah is far behind other states
According to Jimenez, the deep levels of poverty in Sabah could be seen from the fact that although the state has only 10 per cent of Malaysia’s population, it has 40 per cent of the poverty. In contrast, Selangor which has nearly a quarter of the country’s population has less than 10 per cent of the poor.
The WB has also identified that most of the poor can be found in the rural areas mainly among the Rungus in the north and Orang Sungai in the east, both Kadazandusun groups; and the Suluks in the east who are a Muslim group from the Philippines from the days of the Sulu Sultanate. There are also poor among all other communities including in the urban areas among the Chinese.
Nasrun, in his comments, praised the WB for accurately identifying poverty and regional disparity as the main critical issues concerning Sabah. He disclosed that the MEM was put together with input from Sabah which was visited by a WB team several months ago.
“We are fortunate to have access to the WB’s vast expertise in addressing issues of poverty, regional disparity and inclusive
The bottomline was that Malaysia’s economic planning in Sabah so far has not been for inclusive growth.
The study contained in the World Bank’s 2010 Malaysia Economic Monitor (MEM), the third in its series, was handed over last night to the state government by WB representative Emmanuel Jimenez, also Human Development Sector Director (East Asia and Pacific Region).
“Although efforts by the Government have somewhat brought down the poverty rate, it’s still not enough,” said Jimenez. “The MEM shows that Sabahans continue to struggle to make ends meet. This is more evident in the outskirts of the towns.”
Sabah is far behind other states
According to Jimenez, the deep levels of poverty in Sabah could be seen from the fact that although the state has only 10 per cent of Malaysia’s population, it has 40 per cent of the poverty. In contrast, Selangor which has nearly a quarter of the country’s population has less than 10 per cent of the poor.
The WB has also identified that most of the poor can be found in the rural areas mainly among the Rungus in the north and Orang Sungai in the east, both Kadazandusun groups; and the Suluks in the east who are a Muslim group from the Philippines from the days of the Sulu Sultanate. There are also poor among all other communities including in the urban areas among the Chinese.
Nasrun, in his comments, praised the WB for accurately identifying poverty and regional disparity as the main critical issues concerning Sabah. He disclosed that the MEM was put together with input from Sabah which was visited by a WB team several months ago.
“We are fortunate to have access to the WB’s vast expertise in addressing issues of poverty, regional disparity and inclusive