Malaysia: ASEAN’s Most Balanced Upper-Middle Income Growth Platform
Diversified global trade exposure, strong manufacturing intensity and rising FDI underpin resilient growth with lower volatility than many regional peers.
Diversified global trade exposure, strong manufacturing intensity and rising FDI underpin resilient growth with lower volatility than many regional peers.
Combining high-tech export platforms, scale-driven domestic markets and a global trade hub, ASEAN-6 is a uniquely diversified industrial ecosystem.
Industrial export growth is concentrated in emerging-market hubs supplying the U.S., EU and China, led by Mexico and Taiwan (China).
Some manufacturing economies have upgraded to tech-intensive exports while others have plateaued despite scale.
Export growth in emerging markets beyond China is concentrating among a small group of mid-scale exporters outpacing global trade.
The 11 ASEAN economies are integrated into a diverse bloc in Southeast Asia, a region that is now the world’s leading conduit between East and West.
China is the global leader in high-tech exports, and Asian economies feature prominently among the top ten exporters.
Malaysia has a USD 420 billion economy (2024) and real GDP growth of 5.1%.
With rapid GDP growth, expanding trade networks and investment inflows, Southeast Asia retains its enduring appeal as a vital destination for multinational corporations seeking to diversify their supply chains and tap into Asia's growing consumer markets.