Malaysia not failed state, on right track to developed nation status

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is not a “failed state” but is on the right track towards achieving developed nation status, said the Department of Statistics chief statistician Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin.
Based on the department’s Economic Census 2016, he said data shows that contribution from the services sector is increasing, with many small and medium enterprises (SMEs), while in the manufacturing sector Malaysia has a competitive advantage in terms of exports.
“We found that among the companies in Malaysia (in manufacturing sector), there are international companies with state-of-the-art technology. This is how statistics speak, reflecting Malaysia’s status. Why would investors invest in Malaysia if we are a failed state?” he said when asked to comment on claims about the country being a “failed state”.
“If we look at infrastructure, it is always expanding... for example our ports, network, internet penetration; they all show there is demand for these things. We are on the right track,” he told reporters at a briefing on the findings of the Economic Census 2016 yesterday.
Mohd Uzir said despite the economic challenges, Malaysian companies have performed well, boosted by e-commerce and connectivity especially SMEs, many of whom trade internationally.
According to the Economic Census 2016, a total of 920,624 active business companies operated in Malaysia in 2015 with the services sector dominating at 88.9%.
These business companies generated output of RM2.5 trillion, with a growth rate of 7% per year between 2010 and 2015.
The manufacturing sector remained the major contributor to the output value and for the first time, hit RM1.1 trillion.
The total value added generated by 920,624 business companies in 2015 was RM983 billion. The petroleum and natural gas extraction industry recorded the highest value added at RM92.3 billion.
In terms of employment, these business companies employed a total of 8.7 million workers in 2015, including 1.8 million skilled workers who received an average monthly salary of RM5,487, higher than RM4,090 in 2010.
In the private sector, the average monthly salary of workers was RM2,585 in 2015. The petroleum and natural gas sub sector recorded the highest average monthly salary of RM13,310.
Meanwhile, 187,264 businesses were owned by women in 2015, making up 20.3% of total business companies in Malaysia. About 91.4% of women entrepreneurs were in the services sector.
The Economic Census 2016 was conducted from April till December last year covering business companies and registered entrepreneurs in agriculture, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction and services sectors.
The Economic Census 2016 includes 24 publications, with 11 special reports to be published in stages from now till October. These special reports cover topics such as e-commerce, halal industry, bumiputra equity and research and development.
The department is also working on a new indicator namely the business demography indicator, which will be ready by next year. The indicator will process data on the incorporation and dissolution of business companies.
Mohd Uzir said with this indicator, the data will be more in-depth compared with data from the Companies Commission of Malaysia, which does not reflect inactive companies.