KUALA LUMPUR: The federal government is committed to strengthen the Budget 2023 preparation process with the involvement and contribution from members of Keluarga Malaysia to ensure that the budget presented in Parliament reflects the pulse of the people and for the benefit of the people.

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the Finance Ministry has kicked off Budget 2023 state tours starting with Johor in an effort to get views and suggestions at the grassroots level, especially from the people, local industrial sector, as well as the state government.

"During a meeting with Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, the federal government expressed its commitment to drive the development in the state and to increase efforts to attract investments into the state’s main sectors,” Tengku Zafrul said in a statement today.

He said among the federal government’s focus in Johor is to improve its transport infrastructure via projects such as the soon-to-be completed Gemas-Johor Bahru railway and new projects such as the Rapid Transit System (RTS) to Singapore.

The government will also continue to advance mechanisms to increase the provision of quality affordable housing for the ordinary people, such as Rumah Iskandar Malaysia, which is developed by the Iskandar Regional Development Authority, said Tengku Zafrul.

"A visit to FOLO (feed our loved ones) farms in Ulu Tiram, a local community initiative to produce organic vegetables with compost from food waste generated from hotels and restaurants in Johor Bahru shows that Malaysia has high potential to increase food production in urban areas sustainably," he added.

Tengku Zafrul said the Finance Ministry will follow up with tours to all the states to understand the challenges faced and to gather suggestions from all walks of life to boost Budget 2023 measures. - Bernama