Rural urbanization programme in the Fifth Malaysia Plan

Abstract

The Malaysian Five Year development plan sets targets¹ pertaining to the growth of the agricultural sector that are to be achieved over a specified period. The strategies to achieve the targets are many, amongst which include rural urbanization. This paper sets out to examine the concept and strategy of rural urbanization in the context of Fifth Malaysia Plan (5MP) and the potential role it can play to bring about development of the rural sector. The presentation of this paper is as follows. In the first part, some definitions of rural development and relevant background will be provided. The objectives and strategies of the 5MP with respect to development of the rural sector will next be discussed, followed by programmes laid out in the 5MP. Finally, the implementation and performance of the programmes will be discussed.