Malaysia. Characteristics of the Economy in the Context of the Transition to a Knowledge-Based Model

Abstract

For more than 6 decades of independent history, Malaysia has gone through a complex and abrupt path of economic development. A competent management system, quick response to external and internal changes and a planning economic strategy, based on interconnected medium- and long-term plans that were drawn up based on the real state of the economy, and a strategic vision of development, contributed to the modernization and industrialization of the economy and helped to overcome unstable periods, including the Asian economic crisis of 1997–1998, the global economic crisis of 2008, which supported the restructuring of the one-sided agrarian and raw material structure of Malaysian economy and enabled it to become one of the new industrial countries. Entering the XXI century, Malaysia continues to focus both on the world’s best practices and to consider its national socio-economic characteristics to further transform the economic system, the main goal of which is the transition to a knowledge-based economy. The implementation of the innovative scenario means the large-scale institutional transformations, the development of new approaches to industrial and technological cooperation, the creation of innovative infrastructure, and qualitatively new requirements for human capital. Under these conditions, the study of economic situation of this country helps not only to identify several qualitative characteristics of the economy, but also to better understand the direction of its transition to a new stage of development.