Malaysia
in Brief
From a largely agro-based
economy, Malaysia has recently emerged as a newly-industrialised
economy (NIE). With its strong political stability and the farsightedness
of its leaders, the nation is set to achieve the full status
of a developed country by year 2020. The significant achievements
during the First Industrial Master Plan (1986-1995) in all manufacturing
sub-sectors have further inspired the country to plan for greater
heights of achievements through its Second Industrial Master
Plan (1996-2005).
Population
of Malaysia
Its population of 20.5 million people are made up
of three major races - Malay, Chinese and Indian. The Kadazan-Dusuns
and Ibans are the two major indigenous groups in the country.
At average birth rates of 30 per 1,000 and death rates of 5
per 1,000, the population of Malaysia has increased from 10
million in 1970 to 17.5 million in 1991. In 1996, the figure
has touched nearly 20 million. The 1991 census shows rapid urbanisation
taking place since 1980, with urban population making up 86%
of the population, compared to 37% in 1980. Malaysia is still
a relatively young nation in comparison with other NIEs, but
its human resources are effectively managed to achieve an impressive
growth in the last ten years. In fact, the per capital income
levels have more than doubled for the period between 1987 and
1995, from RM4,535 (1987) to RM10,068 (1995).
Malaysian
Economy in the Last Ten Years
The Malaysian
economy has sustained an enviable growth of an average of 8%
in its Gross Domestic Products (GDP) over the last ten years,
with 1995 recording at 9.4%. In 1996, the GDP was estimated
at US$96.6 billion, which reflected a significant growth of
8.9%. The GDP is expected to increase from RM120.3 billion in
1995 to RM176.6 billion by year 2000. Unfortunately, with the
currency crisis and the Stock Market clash, Malaysia is now
facing an economic downturn, though not as bad as other Asian
countries such as Indonesia and Thailand.
Infrastructures
In a
country where manufacturing and export businesses become increasingly
important to the nation's economy, good infrastructures are
key factors that help to facilitate cargo movement and communications.
Under the Seventh malaysia Plan (1996-2000), the Government
has adopted a strategy of privatisation and attracted a total
of RM68.3 billion in private investments to improve road systems,
ports, airports and to provide better telecommunications services,
postal services, water supply and severage. Another RM19.2 billion
will be spent by the Government on these infrastructures during
this period.
With
the completion of the North -South Expressway in 1994, stretching
a distance of nearly 847.7 kilometres, travelling time between
Johor Bharu in the south and the Thai norder in the north of
the Peninsular Malaysia is reduced from 15 hours to about 10
hours. throughout the whole country, there is an estimate of
over 57,500 kilometres of tarred road connecting between smaller
towns and large cities.
There are seven telecommunications companies holding a variety
of licences to operate the nation's telecommunications network.
They offer both fixed-line telephone facilities and cellular
phone services. The largest telecommunications company, Telekom
malaysia offers fixed-line telephone facilities to over 2.7
million subscribers nationwide (or 15 telephones per 100 population).
Six main cellular phone operators offer both analogue and digital
cellular phone services to over 1.5 million subscribers, The
country's two Internet Service Providers have helped the local
population to have access to the wealth of information in the
Internet.
Railways connected between Singapore in the south and Bangkok
in the north, and from Port Klang in the West to as far as Kota
Bharu in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. there are currently
plans to connect further via Bangkok to southern part of China.
Public amenities such as water and electricity which are critical
to the success of the manufacturing industry have received equal
attention. water consumption in Malaysia is estimated to increase
by 3.5% annually. A total of 72 dams are now currently supplying
a total capacity of 25 billion cubic metrs.
Electricity is currently supplied by the Tenaga Nasional Berhad
(installed capacity of 7,621 megawatts as of 1996), a corporatised
company listed in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) and
other independent power generation projects (contributing another
4,000 megawatts) in the country. The demand for electricity
supply at a growth rate of 15% has to date exceeded its annual
projected growth rate of 13.5% for the period 1996-98. A large
hydroelectric project in Sarawak, the Bakun Dam is supposed
to be under construction, but due to the current economic turmoil,
this project was shelved to a later date.
Under the Seventh Malaysia Plan, Port Klang will be promoted
as the sea transportation hub in South-East Asia. All 14 ports
in the country, including Port Klang, handled a total of 2.13
million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 1995, which reflected
an increase of 19.2% from 1994. In the first six months of 1996,
cargo movement at Port Klang alone recorded 642,000 TEUs, compared
to only 523,136 TEUs in the same period in 1995 - a significant
increase of 23%.
Malaysia
- Gateway to Asean
Malaysia,
gearing towards the status of a fully industrialised nation
by 2020, is slated to be the gateway to Asean in the next century.
In a review by John Miller, the marketing director of Unilever
(Malaysia) Holdings in Malaysia Trade Quarterly, he wrote: "Malaysia's
potential lies not only in its complex yet attractive domestic
market but in ite future at the hub of South East Asian growth."
Malaysia was one of the two Asean countries which made it to
the list of New Champions of Competitiveness in 1995, which
measures "the ability of acountry to proportionally generate
more wealth than its competitors in the world markets by turning
out as the top 20 most competitive economies in the world".
At its position at 17th place, it outperformed both Taiwan and
South Korea, according to a report released by the World Economic
Forum and the International Management Development.
Government
Policies affecting the growth in Manufacturing and Exports
The
Government has set up various organisations for the purpose
of promoting external trade and the manufacturing industry in
Malaysia. The following organisations are playing significant
roles in achieving the nation's objectives to be a fully-industrialised
nation by 2020:-
1.MIDA
Malaysia Industrial Development Authority
was set up to promote and coordinate all aspects of industrial
development in the country. It has its offices both in Malaysia
and abroad.
2. MIDF
Malaysian Industrial Development Finance
Berhad, a financial institution set up to promote development
of the manufacturing industry by providing medium and long-term
capital loans to industries.
3. MIEL
Malaysian Industrial Estate Berhad,
owned by MIDF but operating under the auspices of the Ministry
of International Trade and Industry, helps to make available
ready-built factory buildinds for the small and medium-scale
industries.
4.
SIRIM
Standard and Industrial Research Institute
of Malaysia helps to enhance the nation's international competitiveness
through quality and partnership in industrial technology.
