Malaysia

The Malaysian government is continuing its campaign to reform the nation’s economy, broadening its base and liberalising many previously restricted sectors. However, its most recent moves to rein in subsidies, which are designed to reduce the strain on the budget, may prove unpopular and could stoke inflationary fires in the short term.

With a young population and a growing economy, demand for residential property in the greater Kuala Lumpur (KL) area is expected to remain strong, as new transportation schemes to add to the city’s attractiveness.

A recent report on information and communications technology (ICT) has shown that regional rivals are advancing at a faster rate than Malaysia, and that more needs to be done to achieve public targets set by the government. However, officials remain confident that the lost ground will soon be made up.

Following a strong year in 2010, Malaysia’s manufacturing sector looks set for a repeat performance in 2011 in its effort to draw in foreign investment. The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) is setting a target of bringing in RM55bn ($18.22bn) in new investment for the year.

Malaysia is stepping up efforts to become a regional centre for higher learning, a campaign that is focused on improving the quality of education to encourage more locals to pursue their studies at home while also attracting more fee-paying foreign students.

With the South-east Asian medical tourism market rapidly expanding, Malaysia is working to capture a larger share, with industry's designation as a national key economic area (NKEA) central to this effort. The government hopes these measures will help boost health tourist arrivals from the 2010 total of 400,000, which generated revenues of $101.65m.