Economic reform: Malaysia's experience

Abstract

During the last three decades, Malaysia has moved rapidly from being a primary commodity producer with low per capita income to a country which is widely expected to join the ranks of industrialising Asian economies towards the end of the 1990s. Within a span of two decades, a socio-economic Malaysia has succeeded in bringing about transformation of the society, which has enabled all Malaysians to gain from the benefits of development. Indeed, Malaysian economic development has generated both a rise in per capita incomes and an increasing share of industry in the gross national product which was accompanied by an increasing percentage of people living in the urban areas. According to the World Bank estimate, Malaysia' per capita GNP over the period of 1965-1989 grew at 4 per cent a year, the 11th highest growth among 124 countries in the world during the period.