Malaysia

Healthy domestic demand is expected to drive growth in Malaysia’s banking sector this year as public projects help to stimulate lending. While international factors mean banks may take a more cautious outlook, the system as a whole is well capitalised and soundly managed, standing it in good stead for the future.

Malaysian officials are confident the country’s manufacturing sector will continue to post strong growth throughout this year and beyond, on the back of an increasing swell of both foreign and domestic investment. There are some suggestions, however, that a general slowing of the global economy and the prospect of sharp wage increases could take some of the momentum from industrial expansion.

Change is in the air for Malaysia’s power sector, with recent developments including bids on new facilities and change of ownership for old ones. Government oversight has also been evolving, throwing up questions about what the sector’s make up will be in the near term.

The Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the country’s central bank, has put in place a series of new measures aimed at boosting the competitiveness of the national economy and in particular its financial sector. It is hoped this set of reforms will help ease the impact of the European debt crisis and the threat of a further bout of uncertainty in global markets.

The recent strengthening of bilateral ties between Malaysia and Singapore bodes well for their construction sectors, as several planned projects between the two countries should bring lucrative business opportunities to both. A foreseen labour shortage in Malaysia, however, could stymie some projects’ development.

Malaysia has launched a major overhaul of its vocational training programmes, aiming to both reform the educational system to ensure graduates are better equipped for employment in the country’s changing economy and to improve the appeal of trades as a profession for young Malaysians.