Can Malaysia become an Asian Tiger once again?


RECENTLY, the prime minister announced Malaysia would become an “Asian Tiger” once again. I believe this plan has been part of his ambitions since the first day he took office after Pakatan Harapan took over the government in the 14th general election.

Looking back at history, it proved to be a vision quite possible to achieve. During Dr Mahathir’s first tenure as prime minister, Malaysia transformed from an agriculture-based economy the 1960s into an industrialised one in the 1990s.

Malaysia’s gross domestic product contribution in 1965 was largely contributed to by the agricultural sector, which accounted for 31.5% of GDP, compared with the manufacturing sector, which contributed only 10.4%.

The figure changed in 1995, with the manufacturing sector becoming the prominent contributor to the economy, contributing 32.2% compared with the agricultural sector’s 13.1%.

With the injection of large amounts of foreign investment, Malaysia has grown substantially between the early to mid-1990s, with average GDP growth being 8.7% per annum and the unemployment rate at 2.5%. Moreover, Malaysia witnessed a significant achievement in 1996 in reaching 10% GDP growth, almost double that achieved in 2017, which was 5.5%.

Indeed, during that era, Malaysia was known as a “heaven” for foreign investors due to its competitive advantages. 

Neighbouring countries, such as Vietnam and Indonesia, were not among the top choices for foreign investment as both were politically unstable, lacked basic infrastructure and had weak investment policies. In contrast, Malaysia began adopting liberal economic policies and developed basic infrastructure to fulfil the requirements of investors. Thailand, on the other hand, found certain challenges in English being a barrier for communication between locals and foreigners.

As time went by, those countries have changed tremendously, and investors now have many options in this region. In other words, competition among Asean member states have become stiff.

Looking forward, there are the pressing issues we need to address to achieve the Asian Tiger vision. Grooming our talents in line with industrial revolution technology (Industry 4.0) has become an integral part to creating high-tech companies with competent workforces. 

On top of that, the availability of excellent infrastructure, such as high-speed internet and world-class industrial parks, is critical to attracting quality investment and making Malaysia a hub for high-end production. – August 8, 2018.

* Ahmad Shahir Abdul Aziz reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.


Sign up or sign in here to comment.


Comments