Asian Development Bank and Malaysia: Fact Sheet

Abstract

Updated yearly, this ADB Fact Sheet provides social and economic indicators on Malaysia as well as concise information on ADB's operations in the country and contact information. Malaysia is an upper middle-income country with a record of strong economic performance and poverty reduction and a goal of transforming itself into a high-income and developed nation by 2020. The government largely stopped borrowing from multilateral sources after the Asian financial crisis. The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) last operational strategy for the country was prepared in 1997. ADB and Malaysia are working on a new interim country partnership strategy, 2011–2013, which ADB expects to finalize before the end of 2011. Malaysia’s economy expanded at a robust 5.8% annual rate in the 5 years before 2008, contributing to a reduction in overall poverty (based on the national poverty line) from 5.7% in 2004 to 3.8% in 2008. However, in 2009, gross domestic product contracted by 1.7% as a result of the downturn in world economic activity and the country’s dependence on exports, which plummeted. The economy rebounded strongly in 2010, by an estimated 6.9%, on the back of a moderate recovery in exports and stronger domestic demand.