ABSTRACT
Malaysia’s economy grew at an average annual rate of almost 6.5 percent from 1961 to 2011. With sustained growth came profound structural change, transforming a post-colonial commodity exporter into one of Asia’s newly industrialised countries (NICs) (Table 11.1). Yet, Malaysia fits uneasily into the conceptual terms that inform much of the literature on comparative development strategies. The country’s heavy reliance on trade and foreign investment appears exemplary of a broadly liberal, outward-oriented economic regime, yet the government has intervened extensively to direct the course of growth. Economic policies have promoted private sector competitiveness while simultaneously pursuing a far-reaching programme of inter-ethnic socio-economic redistribution. Finally, despite extraordinary continuity in political leadership since independence, the focus of development policy has changed dramatically several times in response to major political or economic crises.
