KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is closely watching for potential changes that may impact global and local economies following Donald Trump’s win in the United States (US) presidential election.
Economy Minister Mohd Rafizi Ramli said that while the government is awaiting new policy announcements from Washington, it remains prepared to assess and adapt to any developments that could influence Malaysia’s economic landscape.
“I think any country in the world, given the influence that the US has on the global economy, would have carried out some sort of due diligence on whatever impacts a change in US administration would have on the local economy and administration.
“I think while we will wait for the next few announcements, we will observe how the Trump administration impacts the global economy and ours,” he told reporters after attending a 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) industry engagement session today.
The minister said Malaysia has to be nimble and agile in order to respond to any kind of geopolitics and international developments that may arise from a change of administration, not just in the US but any of the country’s large trading partners.
“But a lot of our plans when it comes to semiconductors and energy transition are driven by our own needs domestically. And a lot of them are structural in nature.
“That means that it’s something that we have to go through in order to prepare our industry and economy to be more robust,” he said.
On another note, Rafizi said the 13MP will include initiatives to position the country as a global provider of a comprehensive data centre ecosystem.
Speaking at the industry session with stakeholders from the electronics, aerospace, and automotive sectors, he highlighted a vision that positions Malaysia as a data centre powerhouse, not just in hosting capacity but as a comprehensive player in the value chain.
“Malaysia continues to attract data centres, but we want to participate in the higher value parts of the data centre ecosystem. We have been looking at how to work on a few catalytic interventions to create the ecosystem so that by the end of this decade, Malaysia can also participate in the whole data centre value chain,” he said.
For the 13MP that is currently being prepared, he said the ministry is not only holding engagement sessions with state governments but is also ensuring that the plan includes input from key strategic industries.
The 13MP is expected to be tabled in Parliament on July 3, 2025.
