Malaysia sees 2026 as a year of “execution” and “self-discipline,” the nation’s economic system minister mentioned, as the Anwar Ibrahim administration tries to rack up policy achievements below the thirteenth Malaysia Plan (RMK13) forward of elections that might come as early as February 2028.
“2026 goes to be about how we ship RMK13,” YB Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir instructed Fortune forward of the Discussion board Ekonomi Malaysia summit on Feb. 5. “It’s a greater likelihood of success in contrast to making an attempt to provide you with a new policy path,” he added later. “Two years is kind of a quick runway.”
Malaysia should maintain common elections no later than February 2028, the place voters will resolve whether or not to prolong the mandate of present Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his Pakatan Harapan governing coalition.
Akmal and his ministry are actually pushing MyRMK, a “digital system” to monitor progress below RMK13. “We’re making an attempt to deal with points with a whole-of-government strategy,” he mentioned. “I’m making an attempt to be certain that those that are supposed to ship will likely be tracked, so it’s not simply ‘lacking in motion’.”
He expressed hopes that “self-discipline” would possibly give RMK13 longevity past anybody administration, and provides them “sufficient dedication to stick to the plan.”
Malaysia is coming into 2026 on a strong footing. The nation’s economic system grew by 4.9% in 2025, following 5.1% progress the earlier year. Unemployment fell to 2.9%, the bottom price in a decade; the Malaysian ringgit can also be at its strongest degree in 5 years.
Nonetheless, Akmal acknowledged that 2025 was “difficult.” In April, the U.S. imposed 25% tariffs on Malaysian items, rattling the nation’s export-led economic system. After months of negotiations, each side reached a deal: Malaysia diminished tariffs on sure U.S. merchandise in change for Washington decreasing its duties to 19%, with exemptions for key Malaysian exports such as aviation parts and electrical gear.
Malaysia’s energy in semiconductor and electrical gear manufacturing has since helped the nation’s exports amid a international AI increase. The nation’s commerce hit a report excessive final year, surpassing 3 trillion Malaysian ringgit ($780 billion).
Economists are optimistic that Malaysia can ship a repeat robust efficiency in 2026. HSBC ASEAN economist Yun Liu forecast in a Jan. 26 report that Malaysia’s economic system will develop by 4.6% in 2026, and pointed to robust efficiency in {the electrical} gear and tourism sectors, as nicely as sound authorities insurance policies.
Nomura economists have been much more bullish, suggesting in December that Malaysia’s economic system would possibly develop by 5.2% in 2026, thanks to infrastructure tasks below RMK13.
Malaysian officers hope the nation can serve as impartial territory in a extra geopolitically complicated world. “We aren’t China, not the united statesand that provides us a strategic place, each in phrases of geopolitical positioning, as nicely as provide chain positioning,” YB Tuan Liew Chin Tong, Malaysia’s deputy minister of finance, mentioned on the Discussion board Ekonimi Malaysia on Feb. 5.
“Malaysia is open for funding, as a result of we consider we’ve got a aggressive benefit,” Akmal mentioned to Fortune. “That is the most effective time to take into account Malaysia as your [investment] vacation spot…given our strategy of being pleasant to everybody and specializing in financial prosperity.”
Chips, Johor and vitality
A central plank of Anwar’s plan for the following 5 years is the expansion of new “Made by Malaysia” merchandise, notably in high-value sectors like semiconductors. Malaysia already performs a vital function in chip meeting and testing however needs to transfer additional upstream into areas such as design.
“We’re specializing in high-growth, high-value industries,” Akmal instructed Fortune.
Final year, Malaysia signed a 10-year licensing take care of Arm Holdings, the British semiconductor agency, granting entry to chip design blueprints and organising the corporate’s first Southeast Asian workplace in Kuala Lumpur. The settlement additionally contains coaching applications for 10,000 native engineers, serving to Malaysia sort out a persistent expertise hole in superior manufacturing.
Akmal mentioned the nation wanted to “improve” its expertise as it strives to climb up the worth chain, a concern echoed by enterprise leaders.
“Capital may be injected by a authorities or investor, however expertise is the one [thing] we’d like to construct,” Ooi Ching Liang, common supervisor of enterprise growth at SkyeChip, a Malaysian chip design startup, mentioned on the Discussion board Ekonomi Malaysia on Feb. 5. Whereas Malaysia is coaching native staff, it might take “many iterations of product cycles to choose up expertise,” he added, forcing firms like SkyeChip to look abroad for expertise.
One other pillar of Malaysia’s industrial push is the Johor–Singapore Particular Financial Zone (SEZ), launched to appeal to high-tech funding alongside the border. The zone permits firms to faucet Singapore’s monetary and authorized ecosystem whereas accessing Malaysia’s decrease prices and bigger land base.
Nearly one third of all accepted overseas direct funding into Malaysia in the primary three quarters of 2025 went to the state of Johor, and Akmal–a Johor native–notes that it might quickly overtake Selangor, historically the highest vacation spot for overseas funding, this year.
Akmal, who’s one of Malaysia’s youngest ministers at simply 39, is simply a few months into his new place, having been appointed to the function of economic system minister final December as half of a broader cupboard reshuffle. He beforehand served as vitality minister, which supplies him an understanding of some of the useful resource wants for a booming AI and knowledge heart sector.
In his dialog with Fortune, Akmal reiterated pledges that Malaysia will cease utilizing coal by 2044, and be web zero by 2050, and added that the nation is “exploring the potential” of adopting nuclear energy. He’s additionally optimistic that the ASEAN energy grid–a system of electrical transmission crossing the assorted nations of Southeast Asia–will get off the bottom quickly.
“Water and vitality are not simply utilities or assets; they’re the engine of financial progress,” he says. “AI is what the world is now, however the basic requirement will likely be having good assets.”
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