MALAYSIA counted as one of Southeast Asia’s roaring economies following the growth of its building and infrastructure industry which has boosted the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), said the Straits Times today.
 
The country, named alongside regional neighbours Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam in the report, has already surpassed market predictions of GDP expansion of 4.5% in the first three quarters of the year.
 
The government expects GDP growth of 5.2 -5.7% this year, compared with the 4% to 5% projection of a year ago, said the report.

This is stronger than the 4.2% growth last year. The government forecasts the economy to grow 5-5.5% next year.

Much of the growth stems from the boom in infrastructure, with construction firms experiencing the biggest increase in order books, registering over 6% growth in all quarters this year.
 
Sunway Construction won RM4 billion in new deals in the last quarter, double its target, helped by a RM2.18 billion tender win to expand a portion of the Light Rail Transit line.

Sunway Construction’s deputy managing director Liew Kok Wing told The Straits Times that the industry has so many projects to execute that competing firms are busy pinching talent from each other.

“You bump into the same faces when you move from (one project to another)”, he said.

According to the Construction Industry Development Board, the sector is expected to grow by 8% to RM170 billion this year.

Malaysia is also embarking on the third phase of its Mass Rapid Transit line that is expected to cost up to RM40 billion, even as the second phase is ongoing and it expands its Light Rail Transit line in the Klang Valley, in the districts that encompass Kuala Lumpur.

Maybank Investment Bank said the economy would be driven next year by an increase in both public and private spending, even as oil prices rise.

The government has indicated it will deliver more cash handouts next year should fuel prices remain high, thus boosting retail spending in the country.

However, the report cautioned that the glut in the property market – which  Bank Negara said was at a 10-year high – could cast a shadow on the country’s bright economic prospects.

The Association of Valuers, Property Managers, Estate Agents and Property Consultants in the Private Sector Malaysia estimates there are RM35.5 billion worth of unsold real estate in the country. – November 27, 2017.