KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s services sector is continuing to expand and the hope is that it will contribute even more to the national economy.
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan said the government was generally supportive of entrepreneurs wanting to start businesses, particularly in the services sector, by providing various loan schemes.
He said this in response to the latest growth figures released by Bank Negara Malaysia on Friday which showed the services sector to have contributed a strong, sustained six per cent to the country’s second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) figure of 6.4 per cent.
An elated Ahmad said Malaysia’s GDP growth for the quarter had beaten most countries in the Asean region, including Singapore at 2.1 per cent, while surpassing that of South Korea (3.6 per cent), the US (2.4 per cent), the United Kingdom (3.1 per cent) and Russia (1.2 per cent).
“Only China at 7.5 per cent beat Malaysia’s GDP growth,” he added.
Ahmad told reporters this after launching H Pro Motorsport Sdn Bhd here.
Malaysia’s 6.4 per cent second quarter GDP growth also beat forecasts of analysts and was a 0.2 per cent improvement over the first quarter.
The construction sector was the main contributor to the GDP sparkle at 9.9 per cent, followed by manufacturing (7.3 per cent), agriculture (7.1 per cent), private consumption (6.5 per cent) and petroleum and mining (2.1 per cent).
Ahmad said the strong growth was the result of good management of the economy in the midst of the uncertainty in the global environment, as well as Malaysia’s political stability.
“The growth was not just focused on the management of the country’s expenditure but also the macro and micro economy, imports and exports, fiscal and monetary policies, alongside domestic and foreign investments,” he added.
Meanwhile, H Pro Motorsport’s chief operations officer Edward Chong said the company was a pioneer in cleaning and maintenance technology for vehicles with its environmental friendly concept utilising a combination of waxing and polishing.
He added the company projects sales of RM18 million for the first year, while providing business opportunities for those interested in opening up H Pro franchises. — Bernama