MALAYSIA'S GDP LIKELY TO GROW BY 7 PCT NEXT YEAR

KOTA KINABALU (Malaysia), Jan 7 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's economy is likely to
grow by seven per cent in 2011 based on the improving world economic condition,
Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, said Thursday.

At the same time, Ahmad Husni said, he was optimistic the target of five per
cent growth for this year could be achieved.

Ahmad Husni said although the World Bank had forecast 4.7 per cent growth
for Malaysia this year, the government had set a higher target of five per cent.

"To achieve the target (five per cent), the government undertook a study and
one of the initiatives is to increase local demand to galvanise the economy," he
told reporters after launching a Seminar on Jihad Business at Sabah University
of Malaysia (UMS) in Likas, near here Friday.

UMS is the ninth Malaysian public university located in Kota Kinabalu, the
capital city of East Malaysia Sabah state.

He said the government would also fast-track the implementation of the
development projects.

"Projects in the pipeline will be brought forward for implementation. The
ministry will also try and speed up the tendering process of the earmarked
projects.

"We believe that with the increased level of efficiency, we will achieve the
target," he said.

Ahmad Husni said the government would continue to prioritise certain
sectors, particularly the tourism industry, which was not clearly affected by
the recent economic downturn.

In this respect, he said, health tourism would play an important role to
attain the desired result.

He said this was in line with Prime Minister Najib Razak's
1Malaysia concept and his vision to transform the country from agriculture-based
to manufacturing or high-performance economy.

"In fact, the 1Malaysia concept is not only about national unity ... it is
also about how we put Malaysia as an important country on the world map
(including in the economic sphere)," he said.

Earlier, in his speech, Ahmad Husni had called on the Muslim Bumiputeras to
venture into business to uplift their standard of living.

He said the seminar was timely and appropriate as it underlined the need to
move forward in business to enjoy success in life.

-- BERNAMA