KUALA LUMPUR: As Malaysia’s growth forecast is being revised downward in reflection of a broader global trend, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan is emphasising the importance of not being overly fixated on growth figures.
Instead, he said, the focus should be on building resilience and ensuring the country has the right tools and policies to continuously thrive amid heightened global volatility, a journey that the government has embarked upon over the last three years.
The minister expressed confidence that despite headwinds and multilateral bodies revising Malaysia’s growth target, mirroring declining global growth and trade numbers, Malaysia will continue to register growth in 2025.
Yesterday, the World Bank projected Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for this year at 3.9 per cent. Earlier in the week, the International Monetary Fund set its growth forecast for the country at 4.1 per cent, down from 4.7 per cent previously.
These predictions came in lower than the government’s target of 4.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent.
“The good thing is that it (the revised predictions) is still a growth,” Amir Hamzah said at the ASEAN Leadership Forum by Centre For Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) held in Washington, DC.
He said Malaysia’s economic fundamentals remain strong and resilient, mainly supported by robust domestic demand, a well-diversified economy and sustained investments.
“Malaysia remains well positioned to navigate global uncertainties,” he said.
He pointed out that the country registered a GDP growth of 5.1 per cent in 2024, higher than the 3.6 per cent achieved in the previous year.
In the one-hour conversation, Amir Hamzah shared the MADANI Government’s focus on resetting the country’s economy.
“(Among others,) we have been trying to push the economy ahead from a middle income to a high income economy on a global scale and for that, we all have to punch through and break through the middle income trap,” he said.
One of the key challenges in achieving this vision lies in rethinking and redesigning the country’s economic foundation, an effort that is central to the MADANI Economy framework, Amir Hamzah said.
The framework, launched in 2023, focuses on redesigning the economy with good governance in place and at the same time build a better social protection as well as increasing living wages in the country.
“This is important because a stable society provides a much more conducive environment for progression in the country. At the same time, we want to re-strengthen our social nets and enhance good governance in the country,” he said.
Hence, the key is to attract the right types of investments that focus on skills and investments in new priority sectors.
“So, it wasn’t a surprise when Malaysia evolved to become one of the better data centres in Asia, and it also wasn’t a surprise that artificial intelligence (AI) has also taken off (in terms of) what we can do and offer in Malaysia,” he said.
Last year, Malaysia’s foreign direct investment experienced a significant growth, recording a historic high of RM378.5 billion in approved investments, a 14.9 per cent increase year-on-year.
Malaysia, he said, is also accelerating its green transition by attracting investments in renewable energy, electric vehicles and hydrogen technology.
