Malaysia expects 30% rise in private investment next year

Private investment in Malaysia is expected to grow by 30% in 2013, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said.

Malaysia which had recorded private investment growth of just 2.5% from 2005 to 2009, saw a double digit increase to 15.5% in 2010 and 12.2% in 2011.

Private investment continued to surge, recording a 22.9% increase for the first nine months of the year.

Speaking at the opening of the two-day National Economic Outlook Conference 2013-2014 in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed said "Sustaining higher growth in investment and consumption will be key in the transition from externally-driven to internally-driven growth."

The robust domestic demand has been supporting growth in the local economy. Domestic demand grew on average of 8.6% a year for the period from 2010 to 2012 as against 5.7% a year from 2006 to 2009.

He said while Malaysia is looking at increasing the number of new companies, especially the small and medium enterprises, the country is also focused on expanding the services sector.

On trade, he said Malaysia has been diversifying its export markets, stepping up efforts to forge greater linkages with the Middle East and Latin America.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) has revised Malaysia’s growth forecast upwards to 5.1% for the year from 4.9%. At the same time MIER has also revised its projection for next year from 5.4% to 5.6%.

Source: NST Business Times and StarBiz