MALAYSIA ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IS GOOD

Even with this 81-billion ringgit subsidy, Malaysia still able to reduce the deficit from 5.5 percent in 2000 to 3.2 percent in 2007 and government is confident to reduce the deficit even further to 3.1 in 2008.

Malaysia manages to reduce the extreme poverty from 1.2% to 0.7% by 3 strategic poverty-reducing approaches:

– Emphasis on agricultural and rural development to raise income of poor farmers

– Emphasis on labour-intensive export industrialization to absorb poor workers

– Public investment in education, health and infrastructure especially in rural areas, to raise living levels of poor

In Malaysia, with the industrialization, manufacturing sector and plantation sector, levels of unemployment has remains low. The unemployment rate is reducing from 3.5% to 3.3%.