Malaysian Industrial Policy

Malaysian Industrial Policy argues that selective government promotion efforts have been successful and crucial for Malaysia's industrialisation despite some disastrous consequences associated with the Mahathir government's heavy industrialisation programme. The authors in this book present evidence to show that direct and indirect government interventions have induced and supported investments, accelerating the structural transformation of the Malaysian economy. The analysis indicates that investment incentives with conditions attached rather than trade or investment liberalisation have been crucial to Malaysian manufacturing growth since independence. However, industrial development in Malaysia has been modest compared with that in northeast Asia because of weaknesses in industrial policy and excessive reliance on foreign investments.