Magnificent malaysia ‘expanding’

Malaysia is becoming increasingly attractive to international investors, argues one company…    

Malaysia is a fascinating nation that has emerged in recent years as one of the most sustainable economic success stories of the Asian region. It is therefore of no surprise that predictions for the continued expansion of the country’s economy are positive, and that the greater promotion of Malaysia’s appeal as a tourism destination and a second home location is proving highly successful.

Even in these uncertain global economic times, Malaysia is managing to remain in a robust position with average annual GDP appreciation in the region of an incredible 6%. This is because the government remains active in diversifying the economy away from a dependence on the export of raw materials to achieve a status where today, Malaysia’s is an emerging multi-sector economy benefiting from the fact that foreign exchange reserves are healthy and external debt levels are low.

As an oil and gas exporter, Malaysia has benefited significantly in recent years thanks to higher global energy prices, but the government of the nation has not rested on its laurels because of this. Rather it has sought to attract significant and sustainable levels of foreign direct investment through advantageous taxation and fiscal incentives, and the government has been active in the direct promotion of Malaysia as a stunning place to visit as well.

Huge Government support

A spokesperson for Experience International commented: “So far, the government has actively supported foreign direct investment in the real estate industry in particular by abolishing restrictions on the foreign freehold ownership of property, by eliminating real property gains tax and by making the entire property ownership process transparent and straightforward.

“This has drawn great interest to a nation which has an active and affluent property scene and which offers a far lower cost entry point into the regional real estate market compared to other favourites such as Hong Kong and Singapore.

”In addition to this, the government designated 2007 ‘Visit Malaysia’ year, and they maintained a concerted effort of international promotion that pushed visitor numbers up by 10.5% last year alone, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council’s statistics.

“Going forward, this massive promotional push has been backed up by solid ongoing investment into the tourism industry and related infrastructure in Malaysia, and now the nation is beginning to diversify the travel market further in efforts to draw even greater numbers of visitors.