Najib: Malaysia is the ‘best package in the world’

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak claimed today that Malaysia is the best place in the world to live in as it provided the “best value for money”.

The prime minister told a crowd of nearly 3,000 people in Lembah Pantai here that Barisan Nasional’s (BN) uninterrupted rule had transformed the country from an agro-based economy “which was said to have no potential” to “the best in the world”.

“Maybe some countries have bigger cities or amenities that are inaccessible in Malaysia but as a package, I dare say Malaysia as a package is the best in the world,” Najib (picture) said.

The BN chief also told reporters later that “it is difficult to say any other place is better”.

“When you consider amenities, products, places to live... Malaysia provides the best value for money,” the Pekan MP said.

He added that once megaprojects such as the RM50 billion Mass Rapid Transit and the RM4 billion River of Life restoration project for Sungai Klang were completed in five to six years, Kuala Lumpur would rank among the greatest cities in the world alongside New York, London and Tokyo.

“The face of KL will change,” he said.

The capital was 78th in a ranking of the world’s most liveable cities by international business publication The Economist for two consecutive years.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) report last year ranked Singapore as the top Southeast Asian city at 51st based on its stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

Kuala Lumpur did not make the list in a report released by PwC last June predicting the trajectory of 26 select cities, based on a wide range of criteria such as intellectual capital, transportation, health, economic clout, liveability and lifestyle assets.

The Malaysian capital also dropped eight spots to 48 in a 2010 ranking of the world’s most global cities by international management consulting firm AT Kearney.

Kuala Lumpur remained stagnant at 75th in the Mercer study of best places to live from 2006-09, but improved slightly to 74 in the 2010 survey.