KKDW Strategic Plan 2026-2030 Enhances Rural Development - Ahmad Zahid

KUALA NERUS, Feb 8 (Bernama) -- Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today launched the Rural and Regional Development Ministry’s (KKDW) Strategic Plan 2026–2030, which sets the direction for rural development over the next five years.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also Rural and Regional Development Minister, said the plan places emphasis on five main clusters - the rural economy, human capital, infrastructure networks, rural entrepreneurship, and the service delivery system.

“A total of 20 strategies and 49 initiatives have been formulated to drive integrated and sustainable rural development, with the target of benefiting 8.17 million rural residents, representing 24 per cent of Malaysia’s total population,” he told reporters at the plan’s launch and the ministry’s residential programme 2026 here today, in the presence of Deputy Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Rubiah Wang.

He pointed out that the plan is also aligned with Malaysia MADANI goals, the 13th Malaysia Plan, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Bumiputera Economic Transformation Plan 2035 and the Rural Development Policy.

It also serves as a guiding document for the implementation of the ministry’s programmes and projects, with emphasis on delivery efficiency, accountability in the use of public resources, and direct impact on rural communities, he explained.

“The KKDW’s ability to implement this strategic shift is supported by the achievement of outcomes recorded throughout the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP).

“These achievements mark a transition from the planning phase to the delivery phase,” he said.

He said among KKDW’s achievements during the 12MP were a reduction in the rural poverty rate to 9.9 per cent in 2024 compared with 12.9 per cent in 2022, and a decline in rural-to-urban migration to 0.5 per cent in 2024 compared with 2.4 per cent in 2022.

 -- BERNAMA