The 2010 World Competitiveness Yearbook by the International Institute for Management Development, IMD , ranked Malaysia as one of the top 10 most competitive countries in the world !   Check these figures out… For the first time Malaysia has been ranked in the top ten most competitive countries in the world. Malaysia’s strengthened position rests largely on significant improvements in Government and Business Efficiency ratings : Government Efficiency  :  10 ranks up to the 9 th , from the 19th Business Efficiency       :    9 places up to the 4 th , from the 13 th   Among middle-income countries, with GDP per capita under US$20k, Malaysia ranks second only to Taiwan . The top ten includes Singapore, Hong Kong, the United States, Switzerland, Australia, Sweden, Canada and Norway.   In terms of Economic Performance , Malaysia received particularly strong ratings around: Low long-term unemployment (ranked 4 th ), Strong exports as a percentage of GDP...

Malaysia’s International Trade and Industry Minister, YB Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed speaks about the robustness of the Malaysian economy on Asia Business Report, BBC World News, May 2010…  

Malaysia felt the impact of the global financial crisis, but through sound policy and hard work began to emerge from the crisis at the end of 2009 The world economy in 2009 underwent a major financial crisis. While the U.S., Europe and Japan were hardest hit, Malaysia did not escape economic contraction, but it was among the first countries to show signs of recovery due to the Government’s timely stimulus measures and sound fiscal policy.  The U.S. experienced a 2.4% contraction in real GDP, Europe’s economy shrunk by 4.1% and Japan saw a 5.2% contraction.  World total merchandise trade was down 23% in 2009, and total commercial services trade declines by 14%.  ASEAN saw slower GDP growth of 1.3% in 2009, compared with 4.4% growth in 2008. Malaysia’s economy shrunk in the first three quarters of 2009, but grew by 4.4% in the last three months of the year. Malaysia’s trading volume fell in 2009, in line with the global slowdown, but experienced much smaller...

Highlights of the MITI Weekly Bulletin, Vol. 107 includes: Malaysia to Become a Global Photovoltaic Industry Player Photovoltaics (PV) has been used for over half a century in a range of applications and is recognised globally as they offer solutions to meet increasing energy demand. Malaysia has the potential to become one of the leaders in solar PV manufacturing. With investments from top ranking global companies like Q-Cells, First Solar and SunPower, Malaysia is poised to become a global hub for solar PV manufacturing by 2011. It is estimated that the cumulative revenues from the PV industry will contribute up to 4% of the national GDP by 2020. Updates on the Indonesia–Malaysia–Thailand GrowthTriangle The Indonesia–Malaysia–Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) was formed in July 1993, with the objective of accelerating and facilitating economic development in participating regions/countries through greater integration of trade and commerce in the sub-regions. Six...

 

RANKINGS have now become commonplace. Countries are being benchmarked based on the level of transparency and the integrity of their institutions. In the economic sphere, the competitiveness of countries is evaluated on an annual basis by a number of institutions. These rankings have played a role in shaping people’s perceptions about countries and institutions. They may not be entirely accurate, but many take heed of the assessments. And, even if they do not provide complete assessments, they do influence decision-making. Each year, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) monitors the results of three major international reports on countries’ competitiveness, namely the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) 2010 by the Institute of Management Development (IMD), the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2010-2011 by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Doing Business (DB) Report by the World Bank. Many parties may not agree with the criteria or the scores...

International Trade and Industry Minister, Y.B. Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, will lead a trade and investment delegation to the United States covering Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington DC from September 17 to 24, 2010 to bolster bilateral economic and trade relations. He will also attend the Global Services Summit 2010 in Washington DC where he will be among panellists for the Expanding Services Trade and Investment: A Vision for the Asia-Pacific forum. “This mission marks the government’s continuing efforts to draw more foreign investment from the US. We hope that through such programmes, we can attract more American investors and industry players into Malaysia and boost two-way trade relations,” Dato’ Sri Mustapa said. “This time around, we will focus on investments from high-technology sectors which have the potential to generate more job opportunities and at the same time create a higher-valued ’spin-off’ effect within the industry.”  

The Malaysia-International Chinese Business Forum (MICBF), held from 1-3 December with the theme “Forging Connectivity, Sharing Prosperity”, attracted more than 700 local and foreign business leaders. The main objectives of MICBF were to: • promote Malaysia as the preferred destination for foreign investment; and • facilitate investment partnership in promoted activities and projects. MITI Minsiter officiated the forum and led a special dialogue session with participants from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. It must be noted that Malaysia’s trade with these four economies amounted to US$92.6 billion in 2009 , making up one third of the country’s total trade . Among the issues discussed include improving the implementation of  Malaysian foreign labour policy, visas for expatriates and foreign professionals and investment in Terengganu and East Malaysia. The outcome of the forum also suggested that the...

The UNCTAD Global Investment Trends Monitor: Global And Regional FDI Trends in 2010 report records an impressive 409.7 % FDI growth in Malaysia - USD7 billion FDI inflow in 2010, compared with USD1.4 billion in 2009; which is also the  highest among the 153 economies surveyed by UNCTAD. The world FDI inflow in 2010 stood at USD 1.12 trillion. These figures are reflective of the increasing investor confidence in Malaysia and the successful implementation of the economic transformation and reform programmes, contained in the New Economic Model. Investments in the manufacturing sector also increased from RM32.6billion in 2009 to RM47.2 billion in 2010. It must also be noted that the local bourse hit the highest mark on 7 January 2011 at 1,572.21 points.     MITI has also established an Investment Committee, co-chaired by Y.B. Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed and  YB Senator Dato’ Seri Idris Jala, CEO ofPEMANDU, to monitor, address and resolve cross-cutting investment-related...

Mesyuarat Majlis Pembangunan Perusahaan Kecil dan Sederhana Kebangsaan (MPPK) yang ke-11 yang telah diadakan pada 29 April 2011 telah meluluskan Fasa Pertama Pelan Induk PKS (2011-2020). Pelan tersebut akan menetapkan hala tuju dasar PKS dalam semua sektor, ke arah mencapai status negara berpendapatan tinggi menjelang 2020 selaras dengan Model Baru Ekonomi (MBE). Majlis yang dipengerusikan oleh Y.A.B. Perdana Menteri turut meluluskan Pelan Tindakan Bersepadu PKS (SMEIPA) 2011 yang merangkumi program yang telah dirancang bagi tahun 2011. Majlis telah membincangkan Fasa Pertama Pelan yang mengandungi Rangka Kerja Pembangunan PKS yang baru serta dasar dan strategi yang menyeluruh untuk mencapai matlamat MBE. Fasa Kedua Pelan Induk akan dilaksanakan bagi mengkaji pelan tindakan khusus serta membangunkan mekanisme pemantauan. Pelan ini tertumpu ke arah mewujudkan ekosistem yang menyokong bagi mempercepatkan pertumbuhan PKS melalui produktiviti dan inovasi, dan seterusnya membawa PKS ke...

The Trade and Investment Mission to San Jose, USA was held on 22 and 23 May 2011 in conjunction with the official visit by YAB Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak to the United States of America from 17-21 May 2011. San Jose, known as the Silicon Valley of the USA saw Malaysia’s successful two-day programme led by MIDA in cooperation with Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC). At the Roundtable Meeting, Malaysia’s investment opportunities in the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and specific interests in projects under the Entry Point Projects (EPPs) were promoted. The meeting was also used as a platform for Malaysia to update the status on renewable energy policy, broadband developments, IPR regime and prospects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and other Malaysian FTAs as an advantage to enter third markets. Feedback on the key concerns of the potential US investors were also gathered with one common issue identified on qualified human capital. During the Innovative...