Malaysia Has Ability to Overcome Economic Challenges: Minister

TASEK GELUGOR (Penang,Malaysia), June 9 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has the experience and ability to overcome economic challenges arising from the financial crisis in the European Union. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nor Mohamed Yakcop said the challenges and headwinds from Europe are real, however, Malaysia has the experience and flexibility to overcome it. "We have the experience. Last time we also encountered the same challenges (Asian financial crisis) but we were able to overcome it," he told reporters after presenting household goods to needy families and students here. Nor Mohamed said although Malaysia was an open country in terms of trade and the world, including Asia, it would be affected if the Euro zone financial crisis worsened and if several members, including Greece, exit from the union. However, he said the impact on Malaysia would be minimum as the government has started to focus on the local economy in terms of boosting domestic demand and consumption. Besides, the entry point projects under the Economic Transformation Programme would have spin-off effects in terms of investments and jobs. Nor Mohamed said the immediate impact would be less given the fact that Malaysia has diversified its export destination from traditional countries like the United States to China, Middle East and also intra-Asian. "If there is an impact on exports, we can step up ETP projects to counter this and there are also ways to minimise the negative impact," Nor Mohamed said. -- BERNAMA