KUALA TERENGGANU, Malaysia (AFP) -- Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi launched a 33.5-billion-dollar development plan for Malaysia's poor eastern states Monday as he prepared the ground for national elections.

The East Coast Economic Corridor (ECER) project, drawn up by the national oil company Petronas, is the third in a series of big-spending development master plans rolled out ahead of expected snap polls.
""Now is the turn of east coast states to experience the winds of change,"" Abdullah told a crowd of more than 10,000 people at the sleepy seaside town of Kuala Terengganu, capital of Terengganu state.
""The government hopes this plan will provide a ray of hope for the lower-income groups, particularly the hard-core poor, to come out of poverty and to enjoy these fruits of development,"" he said.
There was a distinct feel of electioneering at the launch of the plan, with Terengganu's chief minister Idris Jusoh leading cheers of ""Gelombang Biru"" or ""Blue Wind"" -- referring to the ruling coalition's signature color.
Call polls
Abdullah must call polls by March 2009 but opposition parties are bracing for elections much earlier, saying he is keen to head off growing disenchantment with his administration.
The government said the 12-year ECER plan is designed to create 560,000 new jobs and raise income levels for nearly four million people -- some 15 percent of the population.
It will involve some 227 projects in transportation, infrastructure, tourism, education, manufacturing, the oil and gas industries and agriculture.
The government is to fund 39 percent of the 112-billion-ringgit plan, with another 14 percent coming from government-linked companies, 20 percent from the private sector and 27 percent from public-private partnerships.
The ECER covers about 51 per cent of peninsular Malaysia's land mass, taking in the rural Malay heartland states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and the district of Mersing in Johor state.
""The launch of the ECER and its master plan signals a push to accelerate the growth of the eastern region in a viable, equitable and sustainable manner aimed at raising incomes and reducing poverty,"" a government statement said.
Abdullah launched the ECER in Terengganu state, which along with neighbouring Kelantan is expected to form the frontline of national elections tipped to be held by early 2008.
Kelantan, the only state not held by the coalition, is governed by the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) which also commands strong support in Terengganu.
In the last elections in 2004, PAS lost control of Terengganu to the national coalition led by Abdullah's United Malays National Organization (UMNO), but managed to hold on to Kelantan with a slim majority.
Political observers say Abdullah is hoping to capitalize on the trickle-down effect of the three development projects, which target the underdeveloped east, north and south of the country -- far from the bustling capital Kuala Lumpur.
In July, he launched the 51-billion-dollar Northern Corridor Economic Region master plan to spur economic growth in the northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak over the next 18 years.
And earlier this year he kicked off the Iskandar Development Region in southern Johor state, which aims to capitalize on the region's proximity to neighboring Singapore and turn it into a new Asian metropolis.