Course: Principles of Macroeconomics Semester 2 2017/2018

1. ECON 1610
PRINCIPLES OF MACROECONOMICS
HOW ECONOMICS IS
RELATED TO EACH
SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT GOAL (SDG)
PRESENTED TO: MADAM HANIZA KHALID
Name Matric No
Ain Atiya Azmi binti Nazmi 1710222
Nasmira Sazwani binti Nasrudin 1719416
Nur Nasriah binti Nazlan 1718006

2. 1
INTRODUCTION
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are incorporated of 17 ambitious and formidable
goals to be achieved by 2030. It is the continuation of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDG) which ended in 2015. The MDG, notwithstanding being an aggregate of eight
precise, concrete and measurable goals, was criticised as being so centered that it left out
other equally critical regions. Thus, the SDG become developed via taking into account the
issues of MDG. The input was taken from five million people across 88 international
locations. As an end result, the goals of SDG are broader and no longer distinguish among
advanced and growing nations. Its 17 dreams are unifying and all-encompassing and contain
169 goals with 304 indicators to measure compliance. (1)
In this document, we will try to study how economics is associated with each intention of the
SDG. We can look at the implementation of the goals in diverse countries and how it impacts
economic policymakers, investment decisions, business models, household usage and
employment patterns.

3. 2
GOAL# 1: NO POVERTY
“End poverty in all its forms everywhere”
Since 1990, poverty rate has been recorded as more than half from the number of
population in this world. The World Bank Group stated that 10.7 per cent of people (2013)
around the world were living on less than US$ 1.90 per day.(2) This means that the percentage
were less than from 40 per cent. As for the people who have a lower income, they cannot
consume as many goods and services.
When a country is facing with poverty, it decreases the aggregate demand and the
GDP will be lower. Then the economy might face recession due to the decrease in average in
interest rate. Fortunately, according to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World
Factbook, Malaysia has the lowest rate of poverty (3.8 per cent) compare to other countries of
the South-East Asian countries. (3)
Moreover, poverty happened because of lack in income and resources. It is also
affected by the collapse of the Ringgit Malaysia and increase in the prices of goods and
services. The government has done many things toeradicate poverty. As the result, the
poverty rate has dropped from 43.9 per cent in 1970 to 0.6 per cent in 2014 with all the state
in Malaysia recorded a decrease in the number of poor households. (4)
To achieve the goal of no poverty in 2030, the government has introduced The New
Economic Policy (NEP). Other than that, the government also provide the various things to
make sure that there is no poverty in Malaysia. For example, the government has provided
the scheme for the lower income that is called BR1M. According to deputy minister, Datuk
Chua Tee Yong, a total of RM 2.1 billion was allocated in 2012. Besides that, in 2013 a total
of RM 2.9 billion was allocated which involved 6.8million recipients, while in 2014, a total
of seven million recipients has been distributed (BR1M) which involved the cost of RM 3.6
billion. (5)
In conclusion, Malaysia will achieve the goals of no poverty in 2030 if the government
continues providing and applying the new infrastructure and other things for upcoming year.

4. 3
GOAL# 2: ZERO HUNGER
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition
and promote sustainable agriculture
Over the past decades, the problems of hunger always rise up among the country. That
will affect most of the world’s population. According to World Food Programme, about 815
million of people around the world were facing a problem of hunger and one third were
having problem from malnutrition. Most of them were children. The main reason why this
problem happened is because of increase in the price for the global food. In this case, the
poorer people were the most affected. Surprisingly, most of them have no access to nutritious
foods such as vegetables, fruits and so on. There are several countries that face the crisis of
hunger such as Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia. From the survey that was done by World Food
Programme, it shows that there was a significant increase in the percentage of the price for
the basic food. According to Caroline Hurford, a spokesman for the WFP (World Food
Programme) the cost of food in the developing countries has not come down. As a result,
many people cannot afford to buy and feed themselves with nutritious food. (6)
From the article of The Social and Economic Impact of Child Under nutrition, in Malawi,
Africa, the report indicated that their country is facing money losses every year due to the
increasing cost for healthcare. This is because of the increased number of malnourished
children. Thus, they should take serious actions to achieve this sustainable goal. Without this
action, the hunger rate in Malawi might increase by 2025. In order to solve this problem, the
ministers of this country had promised to speed up the efforts so that they can achieve their
target by 2025. Other than that, they had also introduced a lot of programmes to make sure
that the economy growth gets higher through the agriculture-led development that will
eliminate the hunger and poverty. (16)
As a conclusion, goals of zero hunger can be overcome in 2025 if the government and the
people increase their agriculture-led development.

5. 4
Goal #3: Good Health And Well-Being
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all
ages
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated that “the good health and well-being is
linked to economic growth through higher labour productivity”. One study found that, “poor
health may create the economic difficulties for families where an illness in a family with no
savings can force its members into hardship or even extreme poverty.” (Public Health, n.d)
In logical ways, if an individual has good health, he will perform well in his job compared to
one who has health problems. It directly affects his job performance and productivity.
"Health care is the economy and fixing it would free up money for other priorities, such as
education and industrial innovation.” said Meredith Rosenthal, a Harvard University
professor of health economics and policy. (Linda A. Johnson, 2009) It means that if the
country spends more on the health-care system, they would spend less in other economic
priorities.
The more citizens in a country facing health problems, the more difficult the country to be
developed economically. In fact, if this problem continuously happen without being given
extra attention, the rates of death may increase. It affects the population as well as the
economic activities.
In Ghana, the education ministry has been working on the solutions of the health problems
caused by ongoing poverty that prevented many children from receiving sufficient nutrition.
“The nearly 3,000 children who suffer from malnutrition each year are often too ill to attend
school”, said Seidu Paakuna Adamu, the national co-ordinator of the Ministry of Education’s
school feeding programme. They recorded that since the Ghana Home-Grown School
Feeding programme launched in 2005, there is an increase in the school attendance compared
to previous attendance before the launch of the programme. Mr Adamu said “if you can
enhance nutrition for children, you are enhancing their future productivity, because if you are
able to improve their learning capacity, they have a chance of getting a good job.” (Public
Health, n.d)

6. 5
GOAL # 4: QUALITY EDUCATION
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and
promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Education is the key to successful individuals. It can help to speed the modernization
of the country. In education, we learn things such as values, moral, ethics, manners,
developing the knowledge and so on. While some communities have easy access to
education, some are underpriviliged due to the barriers they face. It depends on how the
country utilizes their resources.
Besides that, human and finacial management need to be properly developed. The
government should invest in quality education as well as increase the number of public
schools and reduce enrolment fees so as to increase school participatory rate. When the
human capital is properly educated and trained, the workforce productivity will increase
which leads to greater aggregate supply.
To achieve this, financial resources must collaborate with human resources to help
the government to promote the importance of education for everyone especially for the
children. Besides that, government should provide libraries with books from different
courses to attract many people to learn. Moreover, the minister of education should hire the
teachers who are experienced and professional when doing their works to make sure that
education reaches everyone.

7. 6
Goal #5: Gender Equality
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
There are few countries facing the obstacles of gender equalities. One of them is Sub-Saharan
Africa. In an article written by Ibrahim Rashid Hassan, he stated that, women in Africa are
facing challenges in education, economic decision-making and health-care. In education, they
face hardship in accessing school regardless of primary school or secondary school. They
also face great challenges in getting benefit from secondary school. Besides that, women’s
rights for economic decision-making is also limited. Their voice is “unheard” by the country.
(Ibrahim Rashid Hassan, 2017)
The women’s health is also affected because of poor access in reproductive health service. In
additional, some of them have to face the under-age-marriage, sexual and physical violence,
and high maternal mortality. (Ibrahim Rashid Hassan, 2017)
Howevert, Sweden had a feminist government. However recently, they implemented the
equality in gender for social justice and economic growth and development. (Gender
Equality, 2015) They will have the 4th International Conference on Men and Equal
Opportunities, ICMEO on this upcoming May to ensure the international to keep focusing on
the issues of men and gender equality. One of their Government’s goal is to ensure that both
gender have the same power to shape the society. (International Conference in Stockholm,
2018)
One of the new study by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) recorded that the
main results of gender equality is more jobs would be created, GDP per capita would increase
and society would be able to adjust better to the challenges related to the ageing population.
The EIGI’s director said that “our study proves that gender equality is good for the economy
and it cannot be disregarded if the EU wants to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth. For
far too long, gender inequalities have been limiting women’s economic opportunities and we
now have proof that gender equality is crucial for the entire economy”. (Gender Equality
Boost Economic Growth, 2017). In a nutshell, countries need both gender participation and
contribution equally in the growth of economic.

8. 7
GOAL# 6: CLEAR WATER AND SANITATION
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water
and sanitation for all
Water and sanitation are very important to people around the world and they are also
essential to the national development. Unfortunately, mismanagement of the waste-water has
affected to the environmental health causing the water source to become polluted.
Today, most of the developing countries in the world were facing the problems with
the water shortages due to rapid growth in population, increasing in economic activities,
precipitate in urbanization and so on. At that time, water and sanitation remains unrealized by
people and the basic needs were neglected by them. As in developing countries, problems
that related to water may increase the number of the people who will get disease by drinking
cominated water and having poor sanitation.
According to the World Economic Forum, in 2014, water crisis has been ranked in
third highest concern in the global systemic.(17) The government must be concerned about this
problem and should take immediate actions such as setting up the institutions and
infrastructures in order to improve clear water and sanitation. When these actions were taken,
it can make a better change in the future for that country itself. Besides that, its economy can
gain a huge amount of money by improving the clear water and sanitation.
Quoted from WHO (World Health Organization), about 260 billion US Dollars in
total global economic were losses per annum due to the poor water supply and sanitation.
From the World Bank studies, Bangladesh, India and countries in sub-Saharan Africa have
lost an average about more than 4 per cent and their GDP (Gross Domestic Product) were
only 6 per cent. This happened because of poor sanitation and inadequate water supply in
poorer countries. (18)
In a nutshell, water is a very important tool for every human in the world. Without
water, we all cannot survive even for a day. So that is why the government must collaborate
with the people to make sure that our water is clean and we get to drink enough water every
day in order to avoid ourselves from serious disease that will lead to fatality.

9. 8
Goal #7: Affordable and Clean Energy
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and
modern energy for all
Governments across the world have realised the severe impact of air pollution on human
health and thus have set forward to introduce stringent air pollution protection. Countries
have reduced their dependency on exhaustive sources of energy, in particular, coal. Coal
mining in the UK has been slashed down by 50% since the past five years. Australia and
China also become active countries that have retired existing coal plants and cancelled
proposals on new coal-based projects. Installing scrubbers and filters is now a legal state
requirement. Due to these changes in government policy, coal-mining become increasingly
costly. The market share for coals has decreased immensely and coal plants are losing money.
Therefore, using coal is no longer competitive.
Following this trend is the newfound growth of renewable energy such as wind, solar and
hydroelectricity in the power sector. Investments have switched from fossil fuels to
renewables. In the United States, renewables have been the majority of added capacity since
2014. China intends to spend $360 billion on renewable energy by 2020. This tremendous
investment will shift the global price further downwards. Due to this, clean energy is deemed
as “cheap energy”. It is forecasted to capture two thirds of global investment. It is also
predicted that renewables will contribute to 40% of total power in 2040. This fast growth is
due to the reputation of being the least-cost source for the new generation. Economies of
scale and advanced innovation and technology will further push down the price. (7)

10. 9
Goal #8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth,
employment and decent work for all
Decent work in SDG means opportunities for everyone to get productive work and delivers a
fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families, better prospects for
personal development and social integration. It is also stated that “if there is a continued lack
of decent work opportunities, insufficient investments and under-consumption lead to an
erosion of the basic social contract underlying democratic societies: that all must share in
progress.” (Sustainable Development Goals, n.d.)
It is impossible to reach exactly full employment in real life. In every country, they cannot
completely eliminate unemployment because it will still exist no matter how developed the
country is. When there is unemployment, there is loss of real output. When the economy fails
to create enough jobs for all who are able and willing to work, potential production of goods
and services is irretrievably lost. (McConnell, Brue, & Flynn, p.594)
One study found that in Malaysia, they recorded, unemployment is relatively low and stable
at around three percent which means the population is experiencing close to full employment.
Besides that, industry has been a strong contributor to GDP and currently provides around 30
percent of employment opportunities and 50 percent of GDP is generated by the services
sector. The average of GDP per capita is growing at increasing rates as well. (Unemployment
Rate, 2018)
The solution that they have been working on nowadays is, the ILO promoting the expansion
of employment opportunities for young people to ensure that youth have the opportunity and
choice to build their skills and ideas into product and services. They have the thought that
young people have the dynamism, will and resolve to shape a better future. (Decent Work for
Youth, 2016)

11. 10
Goal #9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable
industrialization and foster innovation
Industrialization is the primary source of income as it majorly impacts living standard and
development as a whole. The growth in industries is fundamental as it facilitates a job
multiplication effect, whereby for every 1 job in manufacturing, 2-3 jobs are created in other
sectors. Realising the importance of industrialization in promoting employment, African
countries have reached a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) with the aim of creating a
single market for goods and services in Africa. Manufacturing in Africa unfortunately only
accounts for 10% of GDP which lags behind other developing countries. Considering 70% of
its population are youth of age below 30 and earn only an average of $2 per day, the CFTA if
successful, can eradicate poverty by supplementing a sustainable youth employment.
Therefore, policymakers need to start with highlighting the education system and amending
the curriculum to include science, technology, engineering, mathematics and
entrepreneurship. The human capital needs to be well-developed in order to have the
marketable skills needed for the industry. In addition, infrastructures such as railroads need to
be expanded in order to increase connectivity to assist business projects. (9)
Innovation in science and technology can aid in narrowing the digital gap. India is a success
story of once being an internet black hole to now becoming one of the leading countries in
telecommunication. A lesson which can be learned from this case is that this industry is
shouldered by private companies. With the aim of profit maximization, efficiency is their
driving force as they compete with other providers. There is minimal government
involvement in this sector, even the electricity grid is channeled by private companies
without the need to rely on the state. Thus, there are some areas in infrastructure where
private firms are better positioned. As in other amenities such as sanitation and public
transportation, there is an apparent stagnancy which requires federal efforts as those services
are unpaid where private sectors are not suited in. (10)

12. 11
Goal #10: Reduced Inequalities
Reduce inequality within and among countries
Income inequality between countries have been significantly reduced. As emerging
economies such as China and India have become more sophisticated in managing their
economy and produce skilled workers, wealth are shifted from the US, the EU and Japan to
them. As these countries become more developed, their wealth increases. However, the
ultimate concern is the wealth disparity within countries. It should be noted that while a
country reports a growing and sustained GDP, it may not be all-inclusive. The wealth is
concentrated among the wealthy population who have more access to resources while
neglecting the marginalized and disadvantaged populations. Thus, distribution issues within a
country should be the primary object of focus.
Japan is a model country of high equality within it. It is the most successful communist
nation due to its rigorous tax policy. Income tax for the rich is levied at 45% meanwhile
inheritance tax is 55% which causes the wealth in families to be lost after three generations.
Rich people in Japan are also less ostentatious in their display of wealth and do not exhibit
grandiose purchases like yacht, mansions and luxury cars. Some of the wealthy families even
flee to other countries like Australia and Singapore to avoid such hefty tax. (11)
A contrast to such situation is the United States, a capitalist nation, in which the disparity is
wide and blatant. The top 10% took home 50% of all income meanwhile the top 1% took
home 20% of all income, leaving one-quarter of American workers earning less than $10 per
hour, which is below the federal poverty level of income. In order to narrow the gap, the
government should provide better access to education and employment training for the
bottom two-fifths of the society so they can improve their living standards, as well as giving
welfare payments, health insurance and pension plans to those in the lower income brackets.
Moreover, taxes on the top fifth should be raised so that income can be better redistributed
within society. (12)

13. 12
GOAL# 11: SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES
Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Nowadays, people really like to live in the cities. This is due to the infrastructures and
other conveniences that have been provided by the government. By upcoming years, majority
of people will call the cities as their homes. As for the poor in the developing countries,
cities were the symbolized hopes for them to live in a happie and better environment. Since
nowadays, many of the rural residents have moved to the cities and they have created the
focal point of urban poverty itself. “Mobility, sustainability and socio diversity have given a
big impact for the quality of urban life in the long term” (19)
For example, New York City is the largest, sustainable and the largest diversity in
America. In 2006, the expense budget in that city was over $50 billion. That is the largest
local government in United States. We know that New York is a successful centre of media
and finance because each year, their capital budgets were about $5 billion. This amount was
spent by their state authorities in order to renew the city’s water, for the transportation and
education. New York City’s infrastructure was the largest and most impressive. This is due to
the about 7 million people transported over 722 miles of subway track each in workday. (20)
In conclusion, sustainable cities and communities are the key for the economic success in
the country. But what should we do to make it become sustainable? To make it become
sustainable, we have to avoid from wasting the time, resources and energy. Energy saving
constructions is really important because it makes and creates the cities more sustainable as
well as can make the economy grows.

14. 13
Goal #12: Responsible Consumption and Production
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
The amount of food thrown away can occupy landfills while at the same time the number of
people suffering from hunger and malnourishment also prevail. An unmistakable scenario in
Malaysia is that of 38,000 tonnes of waste accumulated daily, around 15,000 of this is food
waste. Considering the rising number of urban poor in Malaysia, it shows that there is a
distribution issue since all the excess food could go into feeding the hungry instead of ending
up in the trash. Moreover, following land degradation where toxic materials rendered some
land unsuitable for farming, the future supply of food is also threatened. Therefore, we need
to have proper management of food because as the population expands, more food is needed
to sustain us all. Since most food waste originates from households, they should be more
cautious in their consumption. SWCorp Malaysia, a government agency dealing with solid
waste, has come up with the Food Aid Foundation where excess food is collected from
hotels, food courts and convenient stores and later re-cooked and re-distributed to the
needy.(13)
On top of that, water is also a scarcity that needs sustenance. Men are polluting water faster
than it can be purified and recycled naturally in lakes and rivers. Water is consumed by
households as well as the agriculture sector. The availability of water is affected by climate
change which directly affects crop produce and a country’s GDP. For countries blessed with
constant rainfall like Malaysia, tackling water issues by constructing new dams is not the
smartest idea. The project will cost billions of taxpayers money and precious nearby lands
have to be flooded, the people living there previously need to be compensated. Other viable
alternatives can include water conservation by executing water efficiency measures such as
using household devices that use less water. This will cost lower than building a new dam. (14)
On the other hand, for countries like Sub-Saharan Africa, sanitation and regulated piping
networks are still lacking. People drink from water sources that are contaminated with E.Coli.
Thus, the government should invest in low-cost techniques to test the quality of water that
people drink as well as provide a technology for purifying water from its sources. (15)

15. 14
Goal #13: Climate Action
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its
impacts
In an article written by Alexandra Simon-Lewis, she stated that the climate changes defined
by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is a change of
climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity, altering the composition of
the global atmosphere. (Alexandra, 2018).
The effects of climate change are the rising of global temperature, warming oceans, shrinking
ice sheets, rising of sea level, extreme events such as hurricane and the rise of rainfall rates,
and ocean acidification. (Global warming, n.d) These effects can contribute to the bad
implications of economic activities. The rising of global temperature affects the agricultural
activities, for instance the growth of plants become stunted and it caused the declining of
plants yields. This situation can lead to the inflation on the agricultural outputs where the
plants yields are decreasing but the demand of vegetables is high.
The decreasing of plants yields affect the life of some societies. A few countries might have
to face with food crisis because the lacking resources of their staple foods.As in South Korea,
in few years back, they faced the shortage in cabbage yields because of the frosty spring, and
hot summer followed by the autumn flood. It caused prices of cabbages to rise between three-
and fivefold. It burdens on the societies as the cabbages is their staples ingredients in making
kimchi. (6 World Food Crisis, 2010)
One of the ways to counter this climate problem is through forest conservation, and
reforestations as we know that plants are the best absorption of Carbon dioxide (CO2).
Besides that, the government can impose the specific tax on the factories for instance, excise
tax on CPC (chlorofluorocarbon).

16. 15
Goal #14: Life Below Water
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine
resources
Life below water is not only about the marine resources, it also includes the ocean and sea
itself. There are over three billion people depending on the marine and coastal biodiversity
for life. And there are 40% of world oceans affected by human activities. (Sustainable
Development Goals, n.d)
There are so many activities that may cause the marine pollution. One of them is the disposal
of industrial waste from factories as well as garbage disposal into the oceans. The industrial
waste may affect the ocean because the waste is full of toxic and directly cause the sea
pollution. When the sea is contaminated by the chemical toxic, it affects the marine resources
and if this unethical activities continuously happened, it may cause to the extinction of the
marine life. The oil from the factories will cover the surface of sea and also block out the
sunlight from the sea plants as they need it for photosynthesis.(Lighthouse, 2016)
This kind of pollution contributes to the bad impacts on economy. First, it affects the
fishermen who are fully dependant on the marine resources as their source of money findings.
If the sea is polluted, the marine resources such as fishes, crabs, squids, and other sea life will
die and the fishermen will face the biggest problem as their source of income will be affected.
Secondly, it may affect the restaurant that served the seafood. They may experience losses
due to reduction of supplies. The tourism is also affected because the tourists will not be
interested in polluted sea for doing their vacation activities. All of these implications will lead
to the decline of source of income for the individuals as well as the national income. (Effects
of oil pollution, n.d)
The solutions to eliminate and control these unethical activities are the government have to
impose the production tax on the factories, so that they will decrease their productions.
Besides that, the government have to use direct control method for instance, imposing the
Pollution Control Act.

17. 16
GOAL 15: LIFE ON LAND
Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt
and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss
As we know, today, our forests are the heart of the earth. We depend on the forest as an
essential and important source for us in order to get food, shelter, products ingredients and so
on. On the other hand, forest and nature are very important for recreation because it has a
relation to the spiritual value, traditional teachings and so on. The aim or the existence of this
goal ‘life on land’ is to protect our forest, reverse the degradation of land and avoid the
biodiversity from being lost. The forest has covered up about 31 percent of our land area that
is equivalent of Brazil, Canada, China and United States combined because it gives us the
sustainability to get the fresh air and drink clear water.(21)
According to the United Nations, 1.6 billion people in this world are depending on forest
for their living. The land degradation has affected the world’s poor. From the total of 8,300
animal breeds down, 8 per cent from that are extinct and 22 per cent are at risk of
extinction.(22)
The UN Forum on Forest Secretariat has estimated that to achieve this goal, US$70 to
$160 billion per year were needed. The Convention on Biological Diversity estimates that
US$150 up to $440 billion per year is required to cover up the loss of biodiversity. (23)
To achieve this target, the Amazon Indigenous REDD has collaborated with 390
indigenous communities in order to reduce the greenhouse gas emission. They are doing this
project due to the nature element being inseparable to their community. There is also another
project named EbA Amazonia which has been introduced. This project has its aim to
implement community-based adaptation (CbA) and ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA).(24)
In conclusion, by introducing this project, it can help and ensure the future generations
can enjoy and live in the fresh air every day.

18. 17
Goal #16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies
Conflicts, wars and violence have detrimental effects to the economy. When a country
increases spending on armed supplies, although it boosts GDP in the short term, the impact
on long-run GDP is risky. During war, governments resorted to printing money in order to
finance their armies which consequently brings inflation. Moreover, as more resources are
diverted to supporting war, lesser resources are allocated for welfare and public infrastructure
which causes a lower standard of living. Investments also fall as there is less guarantee that
they can yield return due to governance instability. Post-war, the government will be left with
large amount of debt and in order to resolve that, they print out more money which further
worsens inflation. The economic recovery after war is also painful. More money are needed
to repair the lost and damaged properties and to treat the injured. Thus, by ensuring peace
within countries, we can avoid the consequences of war. A peaceful country can devote more
time for sustainable development including health and education provision and eradicating
poverty. Moreover, investments will also be plentiful as business confidence inclines.
A just and inclusive society also means there will be no bribery, theft and tax evasion. In
Malaysia, there is a reported case of over 2000 tax evasions over GST charge since 2015. Tax
evasion reduces the effectiveness of government. When there is lesser tax revenue,
government has to incur debt in order to carry out laws and initiatives. Operating on
increasing budget deficit will hurt the economy in the future. Starting January 2018, the
Malaysian government has raised tax penalty to 100%. Stricter rules are hoped to bring down
tax defaulters.

19. 18
Goal #17: Partnership for The Goals
Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable
development
In an article written by Anne-Birgitte, it stated that building partnership models which are
long lasting, scalable and transformative, and which create shared value will be the key. The
rapid transformation announced by the Fourth Industrial Revolution will affect economic,
social, environmental, cultural and political life more widely, demanding new ways of
working together. (Anne-Birgitte, 2017)
The solution that the UNDP has been working on is that they are now planning to construct
the seventh bridge connecting Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Back then in Afghanistan, there
were only three border crossing points between Afghanistan and Tajikistan. These
connections have been established through a partnership between Afghanistan, the European
Union and UNDP. From its headquarters in Tajikistan, the Border Management Northern
Afghanistan (BOMNAF) project has been working for nearly a decade to build the physical
and social infrastructure, for a strong and peaceful Afghanistan. These efforts will contribute
to mutual trust, regional development, conflict prevention and resolution. (Building Bridges
in Afghanistan, 2017)
Besides that, in Maldives, UNDP and the Government of Maldives came up with an out-of-
the-box idea. They decided to fly drones across the islands to create three-dimensional maps
and chart the topography of the terrain. It is due to that country which have to face the threat
of extinction due to climate change. Eighty percent of the islands in the Maldives are only
one metre above sea level. Without urgent action, the Maldives, like many other island
nations around the world, could soon disappear. Therefore, UNDP and Government of
Maldives collaborate to secure the country. These problem affect the communities of
Maldives where they have to experience the losses of plants as their source of income.
(Drones for Social Good, 2017)

20. 19
CONCLUSION
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are the hopes for the future generation. While
economic activities continue at present pace, we must not allow them to harm the future
subsistence. Current consumption must not be at the opportunity cost of future consumption.
A continuous flow of resources is mandatory thus a proper allocation is needed. Moreover,
every policy undertaken by the government should be all-inclusive in order to tackle
distributive issues. Every population has the right to receive equal access to benefits such as
education and healthcare and thus the improvement in the standard of living must take into
account geographical differences as well. As countries struggle to narrow the gaps of
modernisation between themselves, it must be noted that equality within the country itself
should be of primary emphasis. To abbreviate, if countries are committed to achieving these
sustainable goals, we will have a better future economically.

21. 20
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