KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia asserts confidence in its economic progress, signalling to the global stage that it is a top-tier investment and capital destination.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia had achieved an all-time high of investments in 2023 and he was confident the number would grow in 2024.
“Malaysia is back in business. I am so confident in Malaysia’s economic prospects and our future as a people and nation.
“For 2023, we realised a 23 per cent surge in approved investments to an all-time high of RM329.5 billion.
“We have every confidence this number will improve across 2024, with accretive benefits for the rakyat, as committed investments translate into new projects, new high-paying jobs, new opportunities for technology transfer and upskilling and yes, an improvement in the prospects for the ringgit,” he said during the Invest Asean conference 2024 today in Melbourne, Australia.
Anwar who is also the finance minister, said the transformation programme being implemented by the Madani government would allow for improved political, economic and social environment for international investors.
“Malaysia Madani is a lot more than a return to traditional values, or pure inculcation of new values. It is a comprehensive programme that seeks to develop fundamentally positive, yet transformative changes in fiscal policy, subsidy reforms and a heightened sense of governance alongside improved performance of private economic participants.
“Within our Madani transformation programme are new economic pillars: an Energy Transition Roadmap and New Industrial Master Plan, which will underpin our transformation to a greener, more sustainable and more prosperous 21st-century economy,” said Anwar, who is one of the keynote speakers at the forum.
He also shared a few key economic indicators that underscored the sound fundamentals of the Malaysian economy.
“The Malaysian economy continues to display both resilience and steady growth; in this, the IMF (International Monetary Fund) projects a 2024 growth rate of 4.3 per cent against a moderating inflation level of 2.7 per cent.
“Our unemployment rate stands at 3.3 per cent, having steadily fallen during the first year of my government, and from a high of 4.5 per cent during the worst of the pandemic.
“Additionally, our international reserves remain healthy, standing at RM529.7 billion as of Feb 15,” he said.
The prime minister told the international investment community that there was no better time than now to look at Malaysia as a top-tier investment and capital destination.
“Malaysia is a talented nation, with ambitious people, comprising 33 million-plus Malaysians of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Sabahan, Sarawakian and many other ethnicities, religions, minorities and communities, working together for a shared purpose: a future of peace and prosperity, and where Malaysia’s growing prosperity can be used to do more, for more, on the world stage,” he added.
Anwar’s speech came at the conclusion of his official visit to Australia.
The Invest Asean conference was hosted by Macquarie, Australia’s largest and most diversified financial group, and Asean Exchanges in collaboration with the stock exchanges of leading Southeast Asian economies.
Source: New Straits Times
