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PwC: M’sia will be 24th largest global economy by 2050
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Malaysia is expected to improve its ranking to be the 24th largest in the world by 2050.

PwC Malaysia managing partner, Sridharan Nair, said Malaysia is already in the 27th position in terms of GDP contribution to the global economy, needed to invest in technology and education to further improve its ranking.

“Malaysia has a reputation for being pro-business and pro-investment,” he told Bernama during the 2018 Asia-Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce (APCAC 2018) Business Summit in Kuala Lumpur today.

Malaysia’s economy would be on a steady growth path over the next 20 years, he said, adding that it would still do well despite some short-term ups and downs, as would be expected from a growing and emerging economy.

He said Malaysia has always been a trade- and investment-friendly country with ease of doing business.

However, according to Nair, Malaysia would need to tackle the issue of wage increase in tandem with the higher economic growth of the country in order to be able to effectively benefit the man on the street.

While Vietnam and Indonesia might rank higher in the global economy in terms of their contributions to the GDP due to the size of their population, he said, Malaysia was still doing well for a medium-sized economy.

During his presentation on ‘The Asian Century, but which Asia?’ at the annual summit hosted by the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Malaysia, Nair said, the Emerging 7 economies (Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, India, Russia, China and Indonesia) were projected to dominate the world’s top 10 economies in 2050.

Southeast Asia, he said, currently captured high value-added US investments.

“Southeast Asia’s strategic geographical location is advantageous to serve as an economic platform for Asia-Pacific and the rest of the world,” he added.

Nair said by 2050, China would be the world’s biggest economy, followed by India with Indonesia the world’s fourth largest economy.

Meanwhile, AMCHAM President, Ramzi Toubassy, said it was clear that despite current trade tensions between China and the United States, Asia was set to dominate the international economy in a matter of years.

“Asia’s share of global GDP is expected to grow from 30 per cent in 2016 to over 50 per cent by 2050.

“As we have said many times, Asia matters to the US and the US matters to Asia – the business and trade relationships are long-standing and incredibly important,” Toubassy said.

- Bernama

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