KUALA LUMPUR (March 23): The biggest challenge to Malaysia's aspiration of becoming a high income nation by year 2020 is the weakness in the ringgit, according a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

Speaking to the media today on the sidelines of the Global Transformation Forum 2017, he said Vision 2020 remains relevant to the country and the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) is still looking at the achievement and income growth of the country against the benchmark the country has set.

"At the end of the day, we still talk about Vision 2020 irrespective of whether Dr Mahathir is in the opposition (party) or not. The EPU is still looking at the achievement and hopefully in three years, we can achieve the benchmark that we aspire to be. But obviously, in terms of the high income nation status, the challenge is of course the ringgit at the moment," Abdul Rahman said.

He said it should be possible for Malaysia to achieve US$15,000 income per capita, but with the falling value in ringgit, it would be a great challenge.

However, Abdul Rahman noted that the government has achieved a lot, especially in elevating the poverty level in the country.

He said the income growth of the bottom 40 households (B40) is faster than the middle 40 households (M40) and top 20 households (T20).

"The income growth of B40 is faster than the M40 and T20. That is very good. I think that the B40 income growth is about 13% from 2009 to 2014. That tells you our policy is working," he added.

He highlighted some of the initiatives taken by the government including the cash aid money, BR1M, given to the families who need them, providing credit access to small businesses as well as the latest Digital Free Trade Zone, which could empower small businesses in rural areas to participate in developing the country's economy.

Abdul Rahman told the media that the B40 contributed about 16.5% of the country's gross national income and the government aims to increase it to about 20%.

He added that social mobility in Malaysia is evident and the country is on the right track.

"In Malaysia, a father could be a farmer but the son would have the opportunity to be a doctor. Social mobility… that is something about the country that you should be proud of," he said.