Malaysia to become high-income nation by 2020

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on Tuesday said Malaysia was on track to become a high-income nation by 2020, a media report said.

He said that despite being in an age of great technological innovation and increased opportunity, the country was still at the mercy of often unpredictable global economic factors, The Malaysian Star reported.

"The current volatile economic situation being faced by us in Malaysia and the rest of the world is a case in point," he said in his opening address at the Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council's (GSIAC) fifth annual meeting here.

GSIAC chaired by Razak, was set up to boost Malaysia's efforts in science and innovation, using science to help advance the "high income economy" agenda in Malaysia.

The prime minister said that while there was modest growth in the global economy, heightened uncertainty and volatile financial markets as well as the sharp fall in the price of petroleum and other primary commodities, it was not all bad news.

He reiterated that the fundamentals of the Malaysian economy remained strong, as supported by five indicators.

There was a five percent growth rate, a reduced negative fiscal deficit with strong capitalisation and ample liquidity in the financial system, and positive results from the transformation programmes like the 1.8 million new jobs since the launch of the Economic Transformation Programme in 2010.