Washington: Barack Obama today pledged to devise an economic recovery plan based on massive investment in the infrastructure sector, as the US President elect underlined the need for the expansion of the Internet as part of his programme to create 2.5 million new jobs.

"We will create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s," he said in his weekly radio address today. Obama today unveiled some of the key specific components of the recovery plan that he believes will help the US move out of the recession following the global financial meltdown.

"We won't do it the old Washington way," Obama said about his plan. "We won't just throw money at the problem. We'll measure progress by the reforms we make and the results we achieve - by the jobs we create, by the energy we save, by whether America is more competitive in the world," he underlined. Last month, Obama announced that he had instructed his economic team to develop an economic recovery plan that will help create 2.5 million jobs, while rebuilding infrastructure, improving schools ans reducing the country s dependence on foreign oil.

"Our government now pays the highest energy bill in the world. We need to change that" said the president elect. The first African American president promised to make accessibility of broadband Internet connections to all schoolchildren and hospitals in the country. "Here, in the country that invented the Internet, every child should have the chance to get online, and they ll get that chance when I m president - because that s how we ll strengthen America s competitiveness in the world," he said, adding "It is unacceptable that the United States ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption."

Source : PTI