With the appointment of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister and the formation of his cabinet, the nation can finally hope that Malaysia will have a chance to shine again after multiple political upheavals and the end of the pandemic. Anwar faces a significant challenge because Malaysia has not only lost its Asian Tiger status but has also fallen far behind its neighbours such as Indonesia and Vietnam. We have been a nation in decline compared to our neighbours and have been stuck in the middle-income trap for decades.
THE investment flows of Malaysia’s domestic direct investments (DDIs) have not been very encouraging. This is not an of late occurrence owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, as the data suggests, DDI has been diminishing since 2015.