Dear Valued Clients,
Welcome to our E-Newsletter June 2019
We hope this emails finds you well!
Global Economy Outlook
This month, the trade war between China and the US has further escalated with the announcement of Google’s restrictions on Chinese company Huawei. The Google-Huawei Dispute has further clouded the global growth outlook with prolonged economic uncertainties and downside risks. Meanwhile, the delayed Brexit until 31 October 2019 has also further rippled the cloudy economic outlook where the possibility of a “no-deal” Brexit might have a negative impact on global economic growth.
Back to Asia, one of the economic powerhouses – China is expected to see an economic slowdown in 2019 as compared to 2018 due to the moderation in investment growth and weaker exports growth. In Southeast Asia, regional economic growth is expected to moderate due to trade conflicts and moderating growth in China, which is also the key economic partner of Southeast Asia. Having said that, several ASEAN economies (Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia) are expected to remain unchanged in 2019.
Malaysia Is the 22nd Most Competitive Economy in the World
Malaysian economy has maintained its robust outlook amid the growing trade tension and global economic uncertainties. According to the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) 2019 published by IMD World Competitiveness Centre, Malaysia has again maintained its rank as the 22nd most competitive economy out of 63 countries. Malaysia scored 82.54 out of 100 points, the competitiveness ranking that highlights Malaysia’s robust economic performance, as well as the market confidence and positive sentiments towards the new Malaysian government.
The competitiveness ranking was benchmarked based on four competitiveness input factors: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure. At the 22nd place, Malaysia stays ahead of Belgium (27th), South Korea (28th) and Japan (30th). Besides, the report has also provided insight regarding the improvements in institutional related indicators, for example, bribery and corruption, transparency, bureaucracy, justice, social cohesion and public finance in terms of rankings and value scored compared to the previous year. Among the 14 Asia-Pacific economies, Malaysia was ranked 7th and remains second among ASEAN countries – a spot next to Singapore.
In addition to the competitiveness ranking’s achievement, the recently published Doing Business Report 2019 by the World Bank has revealed that Malaysia is ranked 15th worldwide for the ease of doing business, outpacing countries such as Canada (22nd), Germany (24th), France (32nd), Switzerland (38th) and Japan (39th).
We expect the next half of 2019 to be equally challenging with rising headwinds and on-going trade tensions. However, we remain positive on the economic growth potential and we will continue to improve to better serve our clients. Lastly, as Raya nears, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a joyful celebration and a safe Balik Kampung journey!
Thank you.
Lawrence Chai
Partner
Read More in our E-Newsletter June 2019.
