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| Malaysia at a glance: |
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Area |
329,750sq.km |
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Population |
25.3million (UN, 2005) |
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Capital |
Kuala Lumpur |
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Language |
Bahasa Malaysia |
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Currency |
Ringgit Malaysia (RM) |
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National flag |
Equal horizontal stripes of red (seven) and white (seven), 14 pointed yellow star and crescent in blue canton |
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Malaysia has a population of over 25 million people who reside in the Peninsula
and the states of Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo Island. The country pride itself
with the harmonious existence of various races as a nation. While the majority
are Malays; Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazandusuns and other ethnic groups
make up a colourful and vibrant society. Malaysia’s official language is Bahasa
Malaysia but English is widely spoken. The official religion of Malaysia is Islam,
and the nation comprises Moslems, Hindus, Christians and followers of other
religions. The various ethnic groups, cultures and languages make Malaysia,
Truly Asia. |
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In the last decades of the 20th century, the Malaysian economy saw rapid changes.
Still a leading exporter of rubber, palm oil, timber, tin, petroleum and natural gas, Malaysia’s
manufacturing industry has overtaken its agricultural industry with the growth in the economy
sector since
1987. The nation is fast moving from the industrial into the information age.
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Malaysia’s exports in 2003 breached the USD100 billion mark for the first time, driving the trade surplus up 45.7 per cent year-on-year to a record high of RM75.04 billion (USD19.75 billion). The Association of Southeast Asia Nations, the United States, the European Union, Japan, mainland China and Hong Kong jointly accounted for nearly 80 per cent of total exports in 2003.
Malaysia was ranked 29th in the world in Growth Competitiveness Index Rankings 2003 – 2004 published by the World Economic Forum. Based on the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2006, Malaysia ranked 23rd in global competitiveness, an improvement from the previous 28th position. The better showing in the country's global competitiveness is largely attributed to the government's continuous efforts to further improvethe operating environment for business.
In line with the target to rank Malaysia among the top 20 countries in world competitiveness, and the continued efforts to compete with developed countries, the government will continue to enhance the business environment in the country. Another research reveals that Malaysia was ranked 3rd behind India and China in A.T Kearney Offshore Location Attractiveness Index 2004. |
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MALAYSIA also ranked ninth among the world's top 10 countries with super growth
companies, based on the findings of the Experian Grant Thornton International
Business. |
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Owners Survey (IBOS) 2006. Malaysia is the only ASEAN country among
the top 10 nations in the super growth category. Twenty-two per cent of
the companies in Malaysia, mainly medium- to large-scale
companies
(MLEs)
qualify under
this grouping. The
position
reflects the
much greater responsiveness
and
efficiencies of the MLEs in Malaysia.
The survey involved more than 7,000 business
owners
from MLEs worldwide in 30 countries.
Grant
Thornton is one of the leading
accounting
,tax,
and business advisory firms dedicated to
serving
the needs of entrepreneurial
and
owner
managed companies.
The year 2020 is targeted for the nation to achieve
‘developed-nation’ status. Top
exports include
electronic,
chemical, wood and metal products,
textiles,
apparel and transport equipment.
Malaysia is one of the leading electrical
and electronic product exporters worldwide.
Almost 1000 companies in this industry
are
incorporated
in Malaysia. The production
range includes air-conditioners, refrigerators,
washing machines,
vacuum cleaners,
electric
fans, instant water
heaters, rice cookers,
blenders and microwave
ovens. Malaysia
is also a major exporter of semiconductor
devices, which accounted for over 30%
of
total
electronic exports
in 2000. The
economic
trend
is moving
towards providing value-added products. |
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The nation is also stepping up activities in various research and development (R&D) sectors in order to expand its production to include more sophisticated high-end products such as silicon ingots, polishing silicon wafers,
RFID chip design, digital video disc players, electronic games, multimedia products and high resolution TFT-LCD and LED plasma displays. Malaysia's exports of electrical and electronic products accounted for US$4.5 billion and 55.4 percent of Malaysia's total exports in 2002. Investment in high value-added, capital and technology- intensive and knowledge-based industries are welcomed, especially those in the R&D sectors, as well as those with advanced skills and training facilities.
With information communication technology (ICT) as a catalyst for national development, the Malaysian government has initiated the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) south of Kuala Lumpur in its mission.
MSC comprises Cyberjaya, which is dedicated intelligent city for multimedia companies. The MSC is supported by world-class physical and information infrastructure. It has since made a mark in the region and recognized for its IT competent status.
Major multimedia companies are located in this area to introduce value-added IT goods and services and enable Malaysia to further become a regional IT hub in Southeast Asia. According to Global Information technology Report 2003 – 2004 published by the World Economic Forum, Malaysia was ranked 26th in Networked readiness Index Rankings 2003 - 2004. The index is defined as “the degree of preparation of a nation or community to participate in and benefit from ICT developments”.
Malaysia is also important to world energy markets because of its huge oil and natural gas resources. Current oil reserves are estimated at approximately 3 billion barrels. Main importers of Malaysian oil are Japan, Thailand, South Korea and Singapore.
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Malaysia's natural gas production has been rising steadily in recent years.
In 2000 Malaysia accounted for approximately 15% of total liquefied natural
gas exports and is estimated to contain a 75 trillion cubic feet natural gas
resort. Malaysia mainly exports natural gas to Japan, South Korea and
Taiwan. |
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Malaysia exported US$3.78 billion worth of chemicals and chemical based
products in 2001. Chemical goods include petrochemicals, industrial gases,
oleochemicals, soaps, detergents, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, inorganic
chemicals, paints, agricultural chemicals and fertilizers. The major importers
of Malaysian chemicals are Singapore, Japan, China, Hong Kong, the USA
and Thailand.
Given the rich palm oil and petroleum resources of the country, Malaysia's
production of oleochemicals and petrochemicals is especially advanced.
In fact Malaysia is currently the
largest producer and exporter of oleochemicals worldwide and one of the
leading exporters of petrochemicals.
Biotechnology has been identified as a new key driver of growth for
Malaysia as the country heads towards the vision of becoming a
developed knowledge economy by the year 2020. Biotechnology is
vital to enhancing Malaysia’s sectors of strength such as plantations
and manufacturing, as well asin advancing new growth sectors such as traditional
medicine and food. Accordingly, biotechnology has received stronggovernment support andcommitment in research and development.
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Malaysia has even begin preparations to change from diesel to biofuel by 2008, thanks to the surge in oil price recently, indirectly continue to support local biotechnology industry. The move to biofuel – a mixture of diesel with 5 per cent processed palm oil – would help to reduce fuel costs to the country with the price of crude oil remaining high. Furthermore, Malaysia is the world’s largest producer of crude palm oil. Aware that nations are on the lookout for alternative fuel sources, Malaysia is also placing its bets on purely palm oil derived fuel, otherwise known as palm biodiesel.
Tourism is another source of income for Malaysia. According to Far Eastern Economic Review, 2004, Malaysia ranked second behind China as a top vacation spot for people in Asia. For the first time, Malaysia has caught up with Thailand, traditionally the favourite holiday destination in the region. Hotels in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and on Langkawi Island have begun hiring receptionists fluent in Arabic to cater the rush of Middle Eastern tourists anxious to escape the searing summer heat at home. The Arabs are not the only visitors. More than 9 million people visited Malaysia between January and July 2004 up 70 per cent from the same period in 2003. Tourists contributed RM18.4 billion (USD4.8 billion) to the economy. That is more than 6 per cent of Malaysia’s GDP in 2003. In 2002 alone, Malaysia’s tourist arrival has increased to 13,292,010 and is expected to grow at an average rate of 7.5 per cent per annum.
The agriculture sector has contributed significantly to the growth and development of the Malaysian economy and even though it has undergone significant structural changes over the last four decades. Rapid industrialization during the last decade led to a decline in the sector’s relative contribution to national income, export earnings, employment and investment. Against this, the Third National Agriculture Policy (NAP3) focused its policy formulation on enhancing domestic production and strategic sourcing to ensure adequate supply and accessibility to safe, nutritious and high quality food at affordable prices. The NAP3 builds upon the strengths of the product-based and agro-forestry strategic approaches to overcome the issues and challenges that constrained the progress of the agricultural sector. |
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| In the timber industry, Malaysian production and export of wood and
wooden
products expanded rapidly over the last decade, benefiting from the
abundant availability of timber resources and the
presence of a well
developed
wood processing infrastructure. In 2000 total timber
exports
reached their highest level at US$4,7 billion. Malaysia has become the
world
largest exporter of hardwood logs and sawn timber and one of
the main exporters
of tropical plywood, veneer and mouldings.
The strongest export product of the Malaysian timber industry was
wooden furniture,
which accounted
for 25% of total exports in 2000,
followed by plywood (22%)
and
sawn timber (17%).
Well-developed as a manufacturing and export-driven economy,
Malaysia is on the
fast track to transform into a knowledge economy powered by high-technology,
service-based
and capital-intensive industries. A full participation in the
ASEAN
Free
Trade Association (AFTA), Malaysia is the gateway to the growing
markets of the Asia-Pacific. |
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