Careers, Jobs and Education Resources for: Malaysia

Economic Overview

Malaysia, a middle-income country, has transformed itself since the 1970s from a producer of raw materials into an emerging multi-sector economy. since coming to office in 2003, prime minister abdullah has tried to move the economy farther up the value-added production chain by attracting investments in high technology industries, medical technology, and pharmaceuticals. the government of malaysia is continuing efforts to boost domestic demand to wean the economy off of its dependence on exports. nevertheless, exports - particularly of electronics - remain a significant driver of the economy. as an oil and gas exporter, malaysia has profited from higher world energy prices, although the rising cost of domestic gasoline and diesel fuel forced kuala lumpur to reduce government subsidies. malaysia "unpegged" the ringgit from the us dollar in 2005 and the currency appreciated 6% per year against the dollar in 2006-07. although this has helped to hold down the price of imports, inflationary pressures began to build in 2007. healthy foreign exchange reserves and a small external debt greatly reduce the risk that malaysia will experience a financial crisis over the near term similar to the one in 1997. the government presented its five-year national development agenda in april 2006 through the ninth malaysia plan, a comprehensive blueprint for the allocation of the national budget from 2006-10. with national elections expected within the year, abdullah has unveiled a series of ambitious development schemes for several regions that have had trouble attracting business investment. real gdp growth has averaged about 6% per year under abdullah, but regions outside of kuala lumpur and the manufacturing hub penang have not fared as well.

Environmental Issues

Air pollution from industrial and vehicular emissions; water pollution from raw sewage; deforestation; smoke/haze from indonesian forest fires

Government Type

Constitutional monarchy note: nominally headed by paramount ruler and a bicameral parliament consisting of a nonelected upper house and an elected lower house; all peninsular malaysian states have hereditary rulers except melaka and pulau pinang (penang); those two states along with sabah and sarawak in east malaysia have governors appointed by government; powers of state governments are limited by federal constitution; under terms of federation, sabah and sarawak retain certain constitutional prerogatives (e.g., right to maintain their own immigration controls); sabah holds 25 seats in house of representatives; sarawak has 31 seats

Population

25,274,132 (july 2008 est.)

Location

Southeastern asia, peninsula bordering thailand and northern one-third of the island of borneo, bordering indonesia, brunei, and the south china sea, south of vietnam

Area

Total: 329,750 sq km land: 328,550 sq km water: 1,200 sq km

Slightly larger than new mexico

Country Aliases

Conventional long form: none conventional short form: malaysia local long form: none local short form: malaysia former: federation of malaya

Capital

Name: kuala lumpur geographic coordinates: 3 10 n, 101 42 e time difference: utc+8 (13 hours ahead of washington, dc during standard time) note: putrajaya is referred to as administrative center not capital; parliament meets in kuala lumpur

Military Service

18 years of age for voluntary military service (2005)

International Disputes

Malaysia has asserted sovereignty over the spratly islands together with china, philippines, taiwan, vietnam, and possibly brunei; while the 2002 "declaration on the conduct of parties in the south china sea" has eased tensions over the spratly islands, it is not the legally binding "code of conduct" sought by some parties; malaysia was not party to the march 2005 joint accord among the national oil companies of china, the philippines, and vietnam on conducting marine seismic activities in the spratly islands; disputes continue over deliveries of fresh water to singapore, singapore's land reclamation, bridge construction, and maritime boundaries in the johor and singapore straits; in november 2007, the icj will hold public hearings in response to the memorials and countermemorials filed by the parties in 2003 and 2005 over sovereignty of pedra branca island/pulau batu puteh, middle rocks and south ledge; icj awarded ligitan and sipadan islands, also claimed by indonesia and philippines, to malaysia but left maritime boundary and sovereignty of unarang rock in the hydrocarbon-rich celebes sea in dispute; separatist violence in thailand's predominantly muslim southern provinces prompts measures to close and monitor border with malaysia to stem terrorist activities; philippines retains a dormant claim to malaysia's sabah state in northern borneo; brunei and malaysia agreed in september 2008 to resolve their offshore and deepwater seabed dispute, resume hydrocarbon exploration and renounce any territorial claims on land; piracy remains a problem in the malacca strait