Against the backdrop of global inflation and economic recession, Malaysia, as one of the "four tigers in Asia", has achieved good economic development in 2022.
In 2022, Malaysia's exports increased by 25%, far higher than Vietnam's 10.6%.
Malaysia's GDP growth last year
Better record since 2000
Recently,
the Malaysian statistics department announced that the country's gross
domestic product (GDP) increased by 8.7% last year compared with 2021,
which is higher since 2000.
According to the
statistical report, in the third quarter of last year, Malaysia's GDP
recorded a rapid growth of 14.2% compared with the same period in 2021;
In the fourth quarter, economic growth slowed down, up 7% from the same
period in 2021.
Malaysia's economic performance in
the fourth quarter and even the whole year of last year was slightly
better than the forecasts of various research institutions. Bank of
Malaysia believes that the expansion of domestic demand, the recovery of
tourism, the improvement of the labor market and the strong demand for
electrical and electronic products in the world market are important
factors to support the continued growth of the country's economy at the
end of last year.
The head of Bank of Malaysia
believes that there are many factors that can help Malaysia offset the
impact of the global economic slowdown. These include the continuous
improvement of the Malaysian labor market, the strong growth of foreign
direct investment and the Chinese tourists who are returning to
Malaysia.
Malaysia's exports will increase by 25% in 2022
A
few days ago, official data released by Malaysia showed that in the
last month of 2022, Malaysia's trade surplus narrowed year on year, but
both imports and exports hit a record high, and the annual trade growth
rate was the fastest since 1994.
The trade surplus
of Southeast Asia in December was 27.76 billion ringgit (about 6.42
billion US dollars), which was narrowed from 31.48 billion ringgit in
the same period of the previous year, but higher than 22.23 billion
ringgit in November.
In December, exports increased by 6% to RM131.89 billion, while imports increased by 12% to RM104.13 billion.
In 2022, Malaysia's exports increased by 25% to RM1.552 trillion; Imports increased by 31.3% to RM1.297 trillion.
The
trade surplus expanded by 0.6% to RM255.1 billion, achieving a trade
surplus for the 25th consecutive year. This was mainly driven by strong
exports of electrical and electronic products, petroleum products,
liquefied natural gas and palm oil.
In terms of
exports, exports of manufactured goods, agricultural products and
mineral products have achieved double-digit growth. The strong export
growth mainly benefited from the double-digit growth of electronic
appliances, crude oil, liquefied natural gas, petroleum products, palm
oil, palm oil-based agricultural products, machinery, equipment and
parts, with each export value exceeding RM10 billion.
In terms of imports, three major categories performed well:
First,
the demand for domestic fuel and lubricating oil consumption increased,
resulting in an increase of 29.3% in the import of semi-finished
products, accounting for 54.4% of the total imports, to RM705.74
billion;
Second, the import of non-transportation
capital goods increased by 15.9% to RM120.32 billion, accounting for
9.3% of the total imports;
Third, the import of
processed foods and beverages increased, resulting in a 24% increase in
the import of consumer goods, which accounted for 8% of the total
imports, to RM104.13 billion.
China is Malaysia's larger import market
Cooperation with China is highly expected
Looking
forward to 2023, some institutions worry that the slowdown of world
economic growth and the reduction of external demand will pose
challenges to Malaysia's economic recovery.
In
December of last year, Malaysia's manufacturing purchasing managers'
index (PMI) continued to fall to 47.8 from 47.9 in November, and has
remained below the 50 boom and bust line since September, which will
have a significant negative impact on import and export trade.
The
President of the Bank of Malaysia (Central Bank) said that the slowdown
in world economic growth would bring external shocks, but Malaysia
would still maintain its growth momentum, and the GDP growth rate is
expected to be between 4% and 5% in 2023.
Analysts
pointed out that China is an important trading partner of Malaysia, and
China-Malaysia economic and trade cooperation will continue to play an
important role in Malaysia's economic development and transformation.
According
to the report of the Malaysian Investment and Development Authority, in
the first three quarters of last year, Malaysia approved a total of
130.7 billion ringgit (US $4.43) of foreign direct investment, and the
amount of investment from China reached 49.2 billion ringgit, accounting
for a higher proportion.
Malaysia's Minister of
Transport, Lu Zhaofu, said that the economic and trade prosperity of
Malaysia and China cannot be separated from the active participation and
contribution of Chinese enterprises. Under the "the Belt and Road"
initiative, a large number of high-quality, sophisticated and
cutting-edge Chinese enterprises have entered Malaysia, injecting
vitality and hope for the prosperity and development of Malaysia.
Lu
Zhaofu said that Malaysia encourages and welcomes more high-tech,
energy-saving and environment-friendly Chinese-funded enterprises to
come to Malaysia to help Malaysia realize economic transformation and
industrial upgrading, and expects that Chinese enterprises will continue
to help Malaysia's economic development in technology transfer, job
creation and other aspects.
It is worth mentioning
that in 2022, China has become Malaysia's largest trading country for 14
consecutive years. The proportion of trade with China accounted for
17.1% of the total trade volume of Malaysia, with a year-on-year
increase of 15.6% to RM487.13 billion.
Last year, Malaysia's exports to China exceeded RM200 billion, up 9.4% year-on-year.
At
the same time, China is also a larger import market for Malaysia. The
products imported from China account for 21.3% of Malaysia's total
imports. Driven by electronic and electrical products, mechanical
equipment and parts, and chemical and chemical products, the import
volume from China increased by 20.7% throughout the year to RM276.5
billion.
Source: Souhang. com, the International Cross Research Center, and the external market are comprehensively collated from China News Network, Zhejiang Promotion of International Trade, Xinhua News Agency, etc
