GEORGE TOWN: Malaysia should look at potentially attractive sectors, like Islamic finance, the halal ecosystem, regional high-end tourism, ecotourism and medico-tourism to grow the economy after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Penang Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak said, as the year drew to a close, it appeared that Malaysia was in a good place economically.
In the second quarter of 2022, Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 8.9 per cent. For the whole of 2022, GDP growth is forecast at about 6 per cent.
"This is impressive, and it is very good news indeed. Since the Malaysian economy is inextricably linked to the broader world economy and, therefore, highly globalised, this tells us that the global situation post-crisis, favours us.
"Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Malaysia, and into Penang in particular, has been extremely favourable. Supply chain disruptions or not, geopolitical crisis or not, the figures are extremely encouraging. For example, Penang recorded RM76.2 billion in approved manufacturing investments in 2021.
"This is a record jump of 440 per cent, making up 39 per cent of the national FDI inflow for that year. This is good reason for us to be optimistic. However, we should not be passively hopeful. Instead, we should be actively optimistic.
"We now know that manufacturing is one of our strengths, especially where Penang is concerned. There have been other strengths that Malaysia has, which became evident in the past two years. The logistical sector has been doing well, for example, not to mention the rubber-based industries.
"With that strong wind on our back, we should identify other areas where we can grow and where we have the capacity to excel. This includes looking at potentially attractive sectors like Islamic finance, the halal ecosystem and the many halal sub-sectors, regional high-end tourism, ecotourism and medico-tourism," he said in his keynote speech when opening the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Roundtable Penang 2022 at the Setia Spice Convention Centre here.
The theme for the WIEF Roundtable Penang 2022 is "Economic Rebound: Transforming The Future".
Present were Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Ahmad Zakiyuddin Abdul Rahman, WIEF Foundation chairman Tan Sri Dr Syed Hamid Albar and WIEF International Advisory Panel chairman Tun Musa Hitam.
Media Prima is the media partner of the event, which saw 362 participants from 15 countries.
Speaking to reporters later, Syed Hamid said one of the major effects of the Covid-19 pandemic was that it adversely affected the supply chain and the concept of globalisation.
He said companies were moving their centres and forging new supply chains.
Syed Hamid said the size of the halal economy was about US$3 trillion but the involvement of Muslim countries was small, at only eight per cent.
"Just take Bangladesh as an example, which is about one third the size of Malaysia with a population of 170 million people. It is one of the few Muslim countries which is able to come out from the least developed status to a developing status country.
Fuzi said the world faced multiple crises, including health, environmental, political and geopolitical, in the last few years.
"As we strive to become a high-income nation, Malaysia itself is beset with issues of political stability, economic uncertainty and possible recession, climate change, social inequality, inequitable development, quality education, rising inflation, depreciating currency beyond our control, and good governance, to name a few.
"But the fact that so many very important figures are gathered here today, to talk about 'Economic Rebound' and 'Transforming the Future', the theme of the roundtable, suggests to me that optimism is in the air and that the worst may be over.
"When we now plan to 'rebound' economically, we should set high goals for ourselves. And when we 'transform' for the future, we should put to use all the key lessons we have learned from the recent crises.
"More importantly, we need to see public policy being transformed into private action. A major task facing Malaysians today is the need for synergy. We must stop working in silos.
"It is high time that pettiness, within and between states be put aside in the larger interest of the country. Maturity and wisdom with a broader strategic perspective should guide us towards overcoming bureaucratic impediments that appear to hamper our collective efforts to achieve our common objectives," he said.
State Domestic and International Trade, Consumer Affairs and Entrepreneur Development Committee chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Hussain said despite Penang being a leading high-tech semiconductor, electrical and electronics player in Asean, the big players in the Middle East were still unaware of this.
He said this meant that the WIEF platform could be used to bridge the gap between Muslim countries and the rest of the world.