Figure 1.2 shows the effects of the NERP on Malaysian GDP growth in the years preceding the crisis. One point of interest is the rapid drop from 9% in 2000 to 0.51% in 2001. This was caused by a temporary dwindling of FDI during that period, but the economy managed to sustain itself and rise to approximately 5.7% before maintaining similar rates until the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, which will be discussed in subsequent posts.
What has been said above is a taster of what is to come in the next few blog posts. Extensive research will be performed with regard to Malaysia’s economic development and how the nurturing of Petronas, Proton, Perodua and Modenas, its infant industries, has influenced the rate of economic growth and what this has meant for the Malaysian people in the spectrum of social welfare and human capital.
While I hope to keep this blog active, I realize that essay deadlines are coming up soon and I can only dedicate my spare time to the leisurely activity of blogging. Therefore, I have set myself a tentative deadline for an update for the end of next week, where I shall focus on the prime instigators of Malaysia’s industrial breakthrough and the inauguration of the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA), which was instrumental in fostering business and industrial growth as well as advising the state on legislation and industrial policies.