GEORGE TOWN, July 22 — It is vital to have state governments that are aligned with the federal government in order to expedite the country’s goals of becoming a high-income nation by 2028.

Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said it is a lot easier to expedite growth when the state and federal governments are on the same page.

Rafizi cited Penang as an example, saying it was easier to achieve that here because the state is already quite mature in the economic sense, has good infrastructure and track record and already has existing private players over the years with a global network.

“It requires very close cooperation between the state and the federal governments because no one can pull this off on their own...the state cannot do it on their own, the federal cannot do it without state cooperation,” he told reporters after attending the mid-term review engagement session of the 12th Malaysia Plan here today.

Rafizi said it goes without saying that it is in the best interest of the nation to ensure the state government is aligned with the federal government.

Rafizi said the opposite of this, when the state and federal governments are not aligned, is currently happening in Kedah.

“We have a different view, we feel that a cargo airport project is not economically viable...(but) they want to score political points, they don’t even care whether it is viable or not, they will politicise even something which is not even political in nature,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rafizi said his ministry is ready to cooperate with the Penang government on a number of transportation projects announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and also Minister of Transport Anthony Loke.

“Although I have yet to get details of all the transportation and infrastructure projects, we will be discussing it across the ministries, such as the Transport Ministry and also agencies under the Penang Government to ensure the projects will go on smoothly,” he said.

He added that all these projects will boost Penang’s economic potential by attracting investors.

Earlier, Rafizi also took part in a dialogue session with state representatives, industry players, non-governmental organisations and higher educational institutions on how to develop and enhance future plans. — Bernama