WORLD Bank lead economist for Malaysia Dr Apurva Sanghi highlighted three important achievements in the Malaysian economy which he described as ‘unsung wins’, which should be a source of pride for the people.
He said the first achievement was the significant reduction in poverty since independence.
He said almost half of the Malaysian population was considered poor 10 years or so after Malaya’s independence.
“However, today, only about six out of every 100 Malaysians live in poverty. This means that more than 14 million Malaysians have managed to escape poverty.
“Although efforts to completely eradicate poverty are still ongoing, this achievement is very remarkable,” he said in a post on the X platform.
He said that the achievement was also achieved without the existence of permanent slums as often happens in other countries, an aspect that he said is often overlooked in discussions about development.
“The achievement was remarkable, particularly in the historical Malaysia-Singapore context,” he said.
The second achievement highlighted by Apurva was Malaysia’s success in diversifying its economy.
He said that Malaysia’s level of economic complexity surpassed all other commodity-dependent countries at the same income level when Malaysia achieved independence.
“In the early 1960s, 95 percent of Malaysia’s exports consisted of basic commodities or ‘simple’ goods. Now, that figure has dropped to just 30 percent,” he said.
He also noted that Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita is now 3.6 times higher than that of the Philippines and nine times higher than Zambia, two countries that started at a similar level of development to Malaysia.
“This economic diversification directly improves the standard of living for the people,” he said.
Apurva said Malaysia has also quietly emerged as a major player in the global halal economy.
He said Malaysia’s halal certification and standards are now a global benchmark for other countries.
“Malaysian certification and standards are now a global reference. This is another success that every Malaysian should be proud of,” he said. – August 29, 2025
