AFTER nearly 66 years of turning every green corner of the west coast of Malaysia into concrete jungles of cities and factories, the country's policymakers are beginning to wise up.
Different geography of the country may need different industrial policies, they have now come to accept. One size never fits all, some economists are telling the reluctant others. They are right. But it is not the fault of economics alone for Malaysia's uneven development.
History, geography and politics had their mischievous roles, too. The west coast states of Selangor, Penang and Johor, with their well-served network of roads, railways and ports, were a hive of international migrants encouraged by British colonial policies.
Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, the sultan of Perak, puts it best in his 2019 tome, Striving for Inclusive Development: "The country's population distribution has long been highly uneven, with settlement patterns determined by the location of opportunities for profit or employment." Geography-based industrial policies, supported by the right institutions, may just be the answer to the royal vision of "inclusive development".
Politicians often deride states for not being a Selangor or Penang, equating a brand of politics with a type of economic development. We can't blame Kelantan, Terengganu or Pahang for not wanting to be Selangor or Penang.
This seems to be the message of Universiti Malaya urban and regional planning expert Dr Noor Hashimah Hashim Lim, who spoke to this newspaper on Monday. She is right, given Malaysia's history, politics and geography.
Different strokes for different folks seems to be a wise economic strategy. Policymakers, perhaps compelled by the politics of the day, forced upon states a one-size-fits-all development model. Kelantan and Terengganu have been a victim of such central dictates for the longest time.
Noor Hashimah rightly cautions the federal government to not force "urban" or "city" perspectives onto areas that may not accept them. To her, it is critical for the government to assess the tangible elements, such as land, terrain and typology, and intangible elements, such as demographic composition, socio-economic factors and local demands, needs and wants, prior to developing an area.
Given Kelantan's and Terengganu's religious tradition, both can be turned into halal hubs to serve the country and the region. Both the states have a high number of unemployed graduates and school leavers who can be trained to be halal food entrepreneurs. All they need is an injection of capital and a generous dose of business acumen.
It is also a panacea for interstate migration, which has become a bane for states like Selangor and Penang and the Klang Valley. The halal food industry in Malaysia is no small business. If our Halal Industry Master Plan is right, it is expected to grow to US$113 billion by 2030.
In the next two years, Malaysia's halal industry is expected to contribute 8.1 per cent in gross domestic product value. Halal export figures for 2022, too, were turning in positive numbers, according to Bernama quoting then International Trade and Industry Ministry sources: RM59.46 billion, an increase of RM23.16 billion from the previous year.
The potential for growth with equity is there, but what may be standing in the way is for the federal and state governments to be ready, able and willing to make that happen.
Whatever the stripes of politics, it should not deny certain geographies their right to growth. Because every state is part of Malaysia.