THREE TO FOUR PCT GROWTH IS GOOD BUT VERY ANEMIC, SAYS MINISTER

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 (Bernama) -- Three to four per cent economic growth
is good but it is very anemic, says Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
Nor Mohamed Yakcop.

"(At that growth) there is no excitement. The excitement comes at beyond
five per cent. And six per cent of course is very exciting," he told reporters
after opening the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia International
Healthcare Travel Conference 2009.

He was asked to comment on the World Bank's estimation that Malaysia's gross
domestic product growth is to expand by 4.1 per cent next year, higher than
the government's three per cent target.

The World Bank also predicted on Tuesday that Malaysia's economy, which
has started to show signs of recovery from the global economic crisis, will
return to its potential six per cent average growth by 2012.

Malaysia needs to achieve at least 5.4 per cent growth to attain high-income
economic status by 2020, said Nor Mohamed who is in-charge of the Economic
Planning Unit in the Prime Minister's Department.

"We in Malaysia have one advantage. We can put on the thinking cap and think
out of the box. So now we are thinking to see how we can get the five to six per
cent for the coming years to achieve vision 2020," he said.

Nor Mohamed said high growth sectors like medical tourism are the ones that
will help Malaysia achieve high-income economy status in 10 years' time.

"We are targeting a two per cent growth for now and five per cent over the
longer term," he said.

Since 2006, the industry's growth has been less than one per cent, he
said.

" We will make sure this industry spurs further as it has been recognised as
one of the growth areas in achieving high-income economy. We will resolve any
problem, including a simple irritant, to help this industry grow," he said.

The Minister said Malaysia was ready to attract medical tourists as it has
all the world-class infrastructures.

"We are now sharing the global market pie that is currently worth about
RM60 billion (RM17.8 billion). We are now worth about RM400 million (US$118.6
million) and it is growing in tandem with global growth," he said.

According to an analyst, the global medical tourism market, which registered
over 19 million trips in 2005, will grow to 40 million trips or four per cent
of the global tourism volume by 2010.
-- BERNAMA