In his New Year message, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim insisted that his administration would focus on propelling the country’s economic development and continue to battle corruption.

Economic development is the foundation to thrust the nation forward and lift the living standard of Malaysians, while battling corruption is the cornerstone of a healthy governance system in moulding a corruption-free political culture. These two elements are indispensable.

Propelling the country’s economic development is a vital basis to deliver the rakyat out of poverty towards a high-income economy.

Malaysia’s per capita GDP has been lingering around US$10,000 to US$12,500 for quite some time, and we have yet to liberate ourselves from the “middle-income trap” up till this point.

No doubt, GDP serves as a benchmark of a country’s performance in economic development, international competitiveness, as well as the consumption power of its people. The ultimate objective of spearheading the country’s economic development is to lift the GDP numbers.

Malaysia was ranked 58th wealthiest nation worldwide in 2013, according to a Global Finance Magazine report, just shy of the threshold to become a full-fledged rich country.

The threshold for high-income countries is being adjusted over the years. It was US$13,200 for 2021, and is expected to be raised to US$14,000 for 2023. Based on the World Bank’s definition, there were 81 high-income economies in the world in 2021, including 14 in Asia.

To lift the country’s GDP towards a high-income country, the Malaysian ringgit will have to stabilise in a bid to mitigate inflationary pressure from imports, while an influx of foreign investments will boost job creation and the export sector.

As such, PM Anwar has reiterated that the government will take the lead, with participation from all Malaysians to lift the country’s economy in 2024.

Anwar said the Unity Government registered a 4% GDP expansion in 2023 (higher than the global average of 2.5%), among the too performers in the world. Meanwhile, inflation was capped at a low 2%, with unemployment rate at very low levels. All this would not have been possible without the concerted effort of all Malaysians.

The prime minister spent the whole 2023 trying very hard to woo investments, and succeeded in attracting approximately RM250 billion worth of potential investments. The question is: how are we going to turn these potential investments into actual investments? This cannot be achieved merely by one person’s effort but the entire nation must be actively involved, too.

Government officials must perform their duties efficiently and give their full support to government initiatives, while a highly efficient and corruption-free administration is perceived as a crucial factor for the continued commitment of investors.

Eventually the country’s development will very much depend on robust economic expansion and clean governance, both being equally important.

A strong economic performance will require an energetic and high-calibre workforce, attractive incentives, industrial transformation, efficient civil service system as well as a stable political environment.

Battling corruption sets the right direction for the country to move forward, as we will only regain the investors’ confidence if the problem of systemic corruption is duly addressed,

The prime minister has recently mentioned the “Look East” policy that encompasses Japan, South Korea and China, but as a matter of fact, we do not need to look that far. Our southern neighbour Singapore provides a good role model that we can seriously look into.

The 2023 Index of Economic Freedom published by US think tank The Heritage Foundation on February 28 last year, ranked Singapore as the world’s freest economy (Malaysia was placed 42nd on the same list).

The Heritage Foundation measures economic freedom based on 12 quantitative and qualitative factors, grouped into four broad categories, or pillars, of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, government integrity, judicial effectiveness); Government Size (government spending, tax burden, fiscal health); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labour freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, and financial freedom).

That’s why global tech giants including Google’s parent Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Alibaba, Tencent and TikTok have made this “Little Red Dot” the site of their regional or even global headquarters.

The higher the economic freedom, the more attractive a country is to potential investors.

Well, Malaysia may not rank too poorly being at 42nd, but there are still 41 other countries more appealing than us to the investors. Our lacklustre performance in regulatory efficiency, judicial effectiveness and government integrity alone is counter-productive in creating an investor-friendly environment.

It is hoped that our administrators will come to realise this. Indeed, we need to put in years of effort to improve our investment environment before we can become a truly competitive economy.

PM Anwar said the Unity Government that we have today is a stable government put together after recent years of political instability, one that has the blessing of His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Conference of Rulers.

He insisted that the most important mission of the government now is to stimulate economic development, and once this is achieved, the whole environment will improve significantly.

Meanwhile, battling corruption sets the right direction for the country to move forward, as we will only regain the investors’ confidence if the problem of systemic corruption is duly addressed, while the government’s budgetary allocations can be spent effectively on the right places such that we can put a stop to capital outflow as a result of money-laundering and unnecessary “white elephant” projects.

MACC Chief Commissioner Azam Baki has urged Malaysians to echo the prime minister’s call to arrest capital outflow and elevate the country’s economy in 2024, so that we can become a corruption-free country.

Zero corruption is a difficult goal to achieve, as corruption has become very much a political culture of this country. But, it is better late than never, so long as we do the right thing, including probing politicians who have plundered the nation’s wealth.