OFFICIAL LAUNCH: (From left) OBG’s regional editor, Paulius Kuncinas, hands over a copy of the report to Yakcop, as the Director-General of the EPU, Datuk Noriyah Ahmad, looks on.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s bid to galvanise private sector participation in the country’s economic development by bringing businesses on board for key infrastructure projects is explored in a report published by Oxford Business Group (OBG) in partnership the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister’s Department.
‘The Report: Malaysia 2011’ provides in-depth analysis of the country’s plans to tap further into its natural resources, especially rubber and palm oil, while building on the expansion under way in manufacturing, services and tourism.
The report also includes a detailed, sector-by-sector guide for investors, featuring comprehensive coverage of key topics such as the country’s Development Corridors, alongside a wide-ranging interview with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
Country director Jana Treeck said The Report: Malaysia 2011 highlighted the important role that public-private partnerships would be playing in spearheading the country’s economic expansion while looking in detail at the government’s plans to champion innovation.
“Malaysia is working to bring the private sector centre stage in line with its long-term vision of making the country part of the developed world by the end of the decade,” she said.
“Our partners’ local knowledge of Malaysia’s business environment has undoubtedly brought an added dimension to our coverage of this important, transitional phase in the country’s development.
“The end result is a report containing accurate, up to date business intelligence on Malaysia’s economic development, which I’m confident will prove to be a highly useful tool to the international investment community.” The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, added that the government’s efforts to up the tempo of its economic transformation programme had heightened the need to ensure investors were kept informed of Malaysia’s changing business scene.
“OBG has long been recognised as a market leader in emerging economies and its seven years of operations in Malaysia have given its team a thorough, firsthand understanding of the country’s exciting economic transformation,” the minister said.
“I am delighted to have participated in the compilation of data for this new report, which accurately captures Malaysia’s development while relaying its many opportunities to business leaders on the international stage.”
This latest report charts Malaysia’s efforts to tap investment for its five, strategically-located development corridors. It maps out the government’s plans to drive the initiatives forward through improvements to connectivity and infrastructure as part of a wider bid to rectify economic imbalances across the country.
With Malaysia’s tourism industry earmarked for expansion, OBG’s 2011 report explores the government’s plans to drive growth in high-end segments.
It also analyses the major part that a new low-cost carrier terminal looks set to play in meeting growing demand in air travel.
Moreover, The Report: Malaysia 2011 puts the country’s agricultural sector in the spotlight, particularly the profitable palm oil and rubber segments. It provides detailed coverage of the government’s plans to increase productivity and add value to the segments by moving into downstream processing industries.