All Countries and All Sectors

As Malaysia pursues its ambition to join the ranks of advanced economies, there is one very good reason to believe it will succeed. The country is already consistently ranked among advanced economies for its competitiveness and pro-business regulatory climate. The World Bank named Malaysia the 6th most business-friendly country in the world in...

A middle-income country with serious ambitions to graduate into the ranks of developed economies, Malaysia is supported by abundant natural resources. In particular, offshore oil and gas, and foreign investment-friendly policies have nurtured a globally competitive electrical and electronics industry, while a strong banking system has financed...

With hotly contested elections behind it and favourable conditions in global markets, Malaysia’s government is on a drive to rein in traditionally large fiscal deficits. Having already brought down the federal deficit from a peak of 6.7% of GDP in 2009 to 3.9% in 2013, the government is aiming for a further reduction to 3% by 2015 and a...

To understand Malaysia’s criteria for recruiting foreign investment, one has to understand something of the country’s tradition of development planning. Malaysia avoided Asia’s post-war wave of communism, but the nationalist government has a similar-sounding tradition of crafting five-year plans. Although short of real central planning, these...

As chair of ASEAN for 2015 Malaysia is expected to announce the adoption of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) – even if not technically complete – highlighting its own progress in liberalisation to give new impetus to the next stage of regional integration.

Malaysia used to benefit from the EU’s generalised system of preferences (GSP) scheme, which offers tariff reductions on exports to developing countries. However, the World Bank’s decision to award the country upper-middle-income-nation status ended its eligibility for these lower levies in January 2014. While EU representatives are confident...