Malaysia Must Attain 5 Pct Productive Growth Annualy To Become High-Income Economy - Mustapa [ 12-05-2011 ]
May 12, 2011 16:16 PM
PETALING JAYA, May 12 (Bernama) -- Malaysia must attain about five per cent productive growth annually for the nation to become a high-income economy in line with the government's six per cent gross domestic product target, says International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
He said the government wants to benchmark Malaysia with other successful nations and this is a big agenda to achieve in the New Economic Model.
"If the productivity is high,we can not only afford to compete in the country, but also penetrate foreign markets," he told reporters after launching the Productivity Report 2010/2011 here Thursday.
According to the report, the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) had anticipated the country's productivity to ease at 4.7 per cent this year compared to 5.8 per cent (RM51,591) last year, largely contributed by manufacturing, utilities, transport and communication.
"So, we can say we are not doing that badly, but neither can we say we are doing very well because there is a considerable amount of catching up to do if we want to reach developed nation status by end of this decade, which is the official government policy," he said when launching the report.
Mustapa said Malaysia must leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of productivity-led growth and should emulate the experiences of other nations, namely Sweden and Taiwan.
"We have the intellectual know-how, the financual resources and the business acumen to do this, So, this is not something beyond us," he said.
Meanwhile, MPC's director-general Mohd Razali Hussain said that a more optimistic global economic outlook had replaced concerns about the risk of a possible recession and Malaysia's gross domestic product growth was expected to be at six per cent this year.
"Implementation of all the initiatives, including ETP and key sectors focused under the National Key Economic Areas, will lead to productivity and growth of the country.
"I believe we can attain the set targets," he told a media briefing on the report yesterday.
The report stated that private consumption would increase due to demographic factors and investments would be bolstered by implementation of projects under the ETP.
Productivity of the manufacturing sector is anticipated to ease to 5.3 per cent growth this year compared to 9.4 per cent recorded last year, taking into consideration the softening of the global market which will have an impact on external demand for Malaysia's manufactured export.
The report also said the services sector's productivity is expected to dwindle 4.3 per cent this year compared to 4.74 per cent previosuly, supported mainly by communications, transport and storage, utilities and finance and insurance sub-sectors.
Meanwhile, the agriculture sector is expected to register a productivity growth at 4.78 per cent, higher than 1.8 per cent recorded last year.
The productivity of construction and mining sectors are anticipated to grow at 3.51 per cent and 2.13 per cent, respectivley, this year.
The report also stated that Malaysia registered 5.8 per cent highest productivity growth last year as compared to the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development countries (OECD) like South Korea (4.9 per cent); Japan (4.1 per cent); Sweden (4.4 per cent); Germany (3.5 per cent); USA (2.7 per cent); and Finland (2.7 per cent).
In contrast, developing economies experienced higher productivity growth in line with their economic expansion and dynamism, including Singapore (11.8 per cent); China (10 per cent); India (6.7 per cent); Thailand (5.9 per cent); and Hong Kong (6 per cent).
-- BERNAMA
