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STATEMENT BY

H.E. AMBASSADOR SYED MOHAMAD HASRIN AIDID

PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF MALAYSIA

TO THE UNITED NATIONS

 

HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ON THE

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW URBAN AGENDA

 

 

Mr. President

 

1.       At the outset, I wish to thank you for convening the High-Level Meeting today. Malaysia aligns itself with the statements delivered by Singapore and Pakistan on behalf of ASEAN and the G77 and China, respectively.

 

2.       Malaysia is an urban nation, with 77% or 25.7 million people living in cities and urban areas. It is one of the most urbanised countries in East Asia, as the economy and employment shift into cities in the last 5 decades. Since then, sustainability and inclusive urbanisation have been key principles in the nation’s development planning.

 

3.       Efforts to implement the New Urban Agenda are made to accelerate the localization of Sustainable Development Goals by aligning them to our five-year national development plans and national physical plans to provide the framework for local implementation.

 

4.       Malaysia upholds the principle of “Leaving No One Behind” and in its quest to transform Malaysia into a fully developed nation, the current Twelfth Malaysia Development Plan has four key measures in line with the New Urban Agenda to develop sustainable cities:

 

• Promoting Effective Urban Planning and Governance;
• Fostering Sustainable Urban Economy;
• Prioritising Green and Resilient Urban Development; and
• Building Sustainable Urban Society

 

5.       Malaysia’s National Urbanisation Policy since 2006 sets the urban sector to be the catalyst and driver for the nation’s economic growth, providing high quality of life through a systematic and planned urbanization process. Today, this policy embeds the New Urban Agenda and SDGs to provide a common goal in transforming cities to be sustainable, livable, productive, inclusive and resilient, as our cities continue to face new challenges.

 

6.       One continued challenge in Malaysia is poverty, where 56% of the bottom 40% population resides in cities and urban areas. As Malaysia continues to battle this issue, it focusses not only on economic development priority but on uplifting the well-being and quality of life of the lower income.

 

7.       The COVID-19 pandemic has not spared Malaysia, exposing us to further inequalities and resulting in vulnerable households within our bottom 40% income group falling into higher incidence of poverty. Local governments work together with various agencies and communities to address social protection measures and provide social needs including food, shelter and health facilities. Hence the role of cities is important, to implement national recovery measures, to communicate and provide bottom-up innovative recovery strategies.

 

Mr. President,

 

8.       As part of Malaysia’s effort to address climate change and its impact, a resource efficient and climate resilient development model has been adopted. Our National Climate Change Policy emphasises on shared responsibility, with commitments at all levels of government and community to address adaptation and mitigation measures. Circular economy and decarbonisation are high on our agenda, with efforts to manage waste holistically, create green markets, encourage renewable energy mix and invest in green technology.

 

9.       Moving forward, Malaysia’s national urban development priorities will continue to align, integrate and localise SDGs and the New Urban Agenda. This is critical in advancing the sustainable development agenda by identifying priority areas, key enablers and critical accelerator points to transform our cities sustainably.

 

10.       In closing, Malaysia reaffirms its commitment in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and looks forward to further engagements with United Nations Member States to further its objective.

 

Thank you.