KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia only arrived at a position of strength because the government put in place a far reaching economic plan, and has been unafraid to take tough decisions to build up the economy's resilence.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said he launched the New Economic Model in 2010, at Invest Malaysia, to transform Malaysia into a high income nation, a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable society.
"We had a plan of reform, economic transformation and taking tough but responsible choices.
"And it is clear today, that, aided by the hard work of millions of Malaysians, the plan has worked and is continuing to work," he said during his keynote address at Invest Malaysia Kuala Lumpur 2017 here today.
Najib said between 2009 and 2016, gross national income (GNI) has increased by nearly 50 per cent and GNI per capita increased to US$9,850.
Based on the World Bank's latest high income threshold of US$12,235, Malaysia has narrowed the gap towards the high income target to 19 per cent from 33 per cent.
Najib said 2.26 million jobs have been created, which represents 69 per cent of the 3.3 million target by 2020.
"Clearly, we are making the right progress towards those goals.
“Inflation and unemployment have been kept low. We have attracted unprecedented levels of foreign direct investment, which shows the confidence the world has in Malaysia.
“Our growth has been the envy of the advanced economies, even during years of turmoil for the global economy," he said.
He said this year, the World Bank has upped their estimate, expecting Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP) record a rise of 4.9 percent, considerably higher than earlier prediction of 4.3 percent.
In a historic move, Najib also had officially launched Bursa Malaysia's Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform (LEAP) Market, the first in Asean, as alternative way for small and medium companies to raise funds and grow their business to the next level.
"It is in line with our SME Masterplan which aims to raise the share of GDP contributed by SMEs, their number of employees and their volume of exports.
"And it is another of the many initiatives that my government has put in place in pursuit of our transformation, and that proves our trustworthiness as a business-friendly government of a vibrant economy," he said.
Najib said besides that, the government has also partnered with Chinese technology leader Alibaba to create the Digital Free Trade Zone.
It is the world's first special trade zone that will promote the growth of e-commerce, and provide a platform for both SMEs and larger enterprises to conduct their digital businesses and services.
He said this initiative is part of the digital roadmap which aims to double e-commerce growth from 10.8 per cent to 20.8 per cent by 2020.
Acknowledging that the business community likes strength and stability, Najib said that the record foreign direct investment his government has secured in recent years affirmed that the international business community knows it has that certainty with the present government.
“Indeed, they are voting with their feet. HSBC is investing over RM1 billion to build its future regional headquarters in the Tun Razak Exchange, recognising Malaysia’s increasing status as an international financial and business centre.
“Broadcom Ltd, one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies with a market capitalisation of nearly half a trillion dollars, is going to transfer its Global Distribution Hub from Singapore to Malaysia in 2017, from where it will manage the group’s global inventory of RM64 billion a year.
“Huawei, a leading global ICT solutions provider which serves more than one third of the world’s population, has made Malaysia its global operation headquarters, data hosting centre and global training centre, with a total project cost of RM2.2 billion and employing more than 2,370 people.
“Saudi Aramco is investing US$7 billion – that’s its biggest downstream investment outside the Kingdom – for a 50 percent stake in Petronas’s Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development in Johor.
"That is the single largest investment in Malaysia, and shows the confidence Saudi Arabia has in our people, our technology, and our ability to be a strong partner with their most important business,” he said.