Malaysia Ahead of MDG Deadline - Minister

KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is ahead of its deadline to achieve the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) by 2015, said the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Douglas Uggah Embas. "Notably, it has achieved the MDG objective of eradicating poverty, which fell from 17 per cent in 1990 to 3.6 per cent in 2010," he said in his speech at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio De Janeiro recently. He said among the prominent initiatives were the rural development scheme implemented by the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA), which has elevated the life quality of 177,000 families. Uggah emphasised that the means of implementation, namely finance, transfer of technology and capacity building, must be the centrepiece of the Rio+20 outcome. "We welcome the Rio+20 outcome document, which establishes a process for facilitating mechanism to promote the development, transfer and dissemination of environmentally sound technologies. "Sustainable development is the only way forward, as it is the best policy for peace, security and prosperity," he said. -- BERNAMA