MALAYSIA MOVES INTO THIRD STAGE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has moved into the third stage of
economic development, says the convenor of the Coalition of Services Industries
Malaysia (CSIM), Yasmin Mahmood.

According to Yasmin, in this stage, the Malaysian economy is no more led by
the manufacturing sector alone.

"It will be powered by both the manufacturing and services sectors.
"This is in line with Prime Minister Najib Razak's vision to see Malaysia as
a services sector-driven economy by 2020," she said.

She also said to date, Malaysia had benefited from all the liberalisation
measures undertaken in the past.

"The liberal and open market policies in the manufacturing sector have
contributed to Malaysia being one of the most attractive foreign direct
investments (FDI) destinations in the region.

"However, other countries in the region, are opening up their markets with
low labour costs. All this poses a strong competition for Malaysia," she
explained.

Yasmin, who is also the managing director of Microsoft (M) Sdn Bhd
highlighted that if the services sector liberalisation is well-utilised by all
quarters, it had a bright chance to contribute 70 per cent to the nation's gross
domestic product (GDP) by 2020.
-- BERNAMA