KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the recent positive economic developments in Malaysia were the result of better governance, together with clear policy formulation, especially in the industrial, digital transformation, energy and semiconductors sectors.
However, Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said in a post on his X page today that Malaysia still has a lot of room to improve.
"At present, more and more people are accepting the fact that Malaysia needs a more vigorous and meaningful shift and change to continue to boost the country's economic growth or risk returning to a gloomy and sluggish economic situation.
"I stress that it is important to take advantage of the political stability in Malaysia that we are currently experiencing to improve governance and promote trustworthy and responsible management practices to raise the nation's rank and dignity," he said.
Meanwhile, the prime minister and the Malaysian delegation, who are currently in Vientiane, Laos in conjunction with the 44th and 45th Asean Summits, were at the official residence of the Malaysian Ambassador to Laos, Edi Irwan Mahmud, last night to mingle with the embassy staff.
Anwar, who arrived in Vientiane on Tuesday night, will also attend the Asean Plus One Summit with seven Asean Dialogue Partners, namely Australia, China, Japan, India, South Korea, the United States, and Canada, as well as the Asean Plus Three Summit, East Asia Summit and the Asean-United Nations Summit.
Asean leaders and dialogue partners, including Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, also attended the meetings.
The summit is scheduled to end today with Laos handing over the Asean chairmanship to Malaysia in the closing ceremony.