“This will ultimately give the people an overflow of results to enjoy a better quality of life,” Anwar said at the event held at the Securities Commission here.

Unveiling a “comprehensive and rigorous” plan to face current challenges, Anwar called for both current and long-term issues to be addressed to make the country an attractive investment destination while also tackling the rising cost of living.

He said the Madani economy would have seven benchmarks as medium-term targets to be achieved within the next 10 years. This includes making Malaysia among the top 30 economies in the world and being ranked in the top 12 in the global competitive index.

He said the country will target labour income reaching 45% of its total income, and for women to form up to 60% of the workforce.

On improving global indexes, Anwar said Malaysia should rise to the top 25 nations in the world on both the human development index and the corruption perceptions index.

He also outlined a fiscal sustainability target with a fiscal deficit of 3% or lower.

The prime minister said the country cannot be satisfied with the present state of its economy but must model itself on countries that have suffered bad times yet shown “agility” and “bounced back” to move ahead.

“Like it or not, we must become regional economic champions.

“If we work hard and implement reforms, we can get 5.5%, and I believe it is not impossible for us to even achieve 6% growth,” he said.

Anwar said Malaysia needed greater economic integration with regional neighbours and must produce more highly competitive local companies to penetrate the Asean market.

He said the country must shift its focus towards the manufacture of high value-added products, such as integrated circuits in the electrical and electronics sector, and speciality chemicals by petrochemical and oleochemical enterprises.

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