Malaysia must reform to achieve developed status: World Bank
Posted: 19 November 2009 0523 hrs

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KUALA LUMPUR: The World Bank said Wednesday that Malaysia must introduce sweeping reforms if it wants to achieve its ambitious goal of becoming a developed nation by 2020.

"To reach the 2020 developed status, the World Bank is proposing a four-pillar strategy," Vikram Nehru, chief economist for East Asia and the Pacific, told reporters.

"Malaysia must specialise the economy further, improve the skills of its workforce, make growth more inclusive and strengthen public finances," he told reporters at the launch of a report on the Malaysian economy.

The World Bank said Malaysia's economy will shrink 2.3 per cent this year but rebound to a 4.1 per cent expansion in 2010.

Nehru said the Southeast Asian economy was on track to grow between 5.6 and 5.9 per cent in 2011 and 2012.

"Malaysia's medium-term outlook remains promising but this is conditional on making headway on the structural reform agenda," he said.

The report said Malaysia faced the challenge of shifting from an upper-middle economy to a high-income economy.

"This is a difficult challenge, one which only a few countries have met in the post-war period and it requires strong and consistent leadership over a long period of time," Nehru said.

Malaysia's ambition of becoming a developed nation has been put in doubt by the economic downturn but the government has said it still has a chance of attaining the goal.

The government has predicted moderate growth of 2.0-3.0 per cent in 2010 after a 3.0 per cent contraction in 2009.

- AFP/yb