NUBS economist conducts guest lecture on past performance, challenges and the way forward for the Malaysian economy

 

Dr Michael Yap, Senior University Teaching Fellow, was invited to give a guest lecture at HELP University to staff and students of the University of London programme on 25 March 2015. 

 In his lecture, entitled Malaysian Economy: Past Performance, Challenges, and The Way Forward, Dr Yap highlighted several success factors in the economy, in particular trade openness and the role of foreign direct investment, in export-oriented manufacturing. Notwithstanding the success of the past, there are challenges to continued prosperity as the country aspires to become a high-income economy by moving up the value chain. The lecture then dealt with how Malaysia should respond to its changing comparative advantage. Issues raised included the changing role of the state to promote competitiveness; attracting higher quality FDI; promoting local entrepreneurship; broadening the manufacturing export base; proper positioning in international trade agreements; boosting the quality of human resources; improving the education system, and overcoming political obstacles to reform. There was an active Q&A session following the lecture.