This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on July 14, 2017 - July 20, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: The government is optimistic about achieving an average of a 5% gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2017, given the improving economic environment, increase in exports and investments, as well as job creation.

Speaking at the Finance Forum 2017 on Belt and Road Initiative yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said that as at May this year, Malaysia’s exports had exceeded analysts’ forecast of a 23.4% growth rate, growing by 32.3% to RM79.4 billion.

With the first quarter of 2017 achieving a GDP growth of 5.6%, Wee believes that Malaysia is “on the right track” and foresees GDP growth for the second quarter to achieve more than 5%.

China has continued to be the largest trading partner of Malaysia for the eighth consecutive year since 2009, according to Wee.

“Our trade with China has increased by 32.3% to RM25.21 billion, accounting for 16.4% of our total trade. We need to sustain these growth figures,” said Wee.

For almost two decades, Wee said, Malaysia has been operating on a trade surplus, claiming that Malaysia’s “fundamentals are still strong”.

Wee added that maintaining the figures might be more difficult without the right infrastructure development, which Malaysia is actively pursuing with the help of local and international smart partnerships.

Wee also claimed that digital connectivity has been a revolution in economic activities, contributing nearly 16% of the country’s GDP so far this year.

“What Malaysia needs moving into the next decade are stable, responsible and forward-thinking agents to help us accelerate the next group of SMEs (small and medium enterprises) that has ideas and is willing to forge new trends,” Wee added.

Wee opined that China is controlling the technology industry, especially on the usage of smartphones, and the trend has slowly been adopted by Malaysians as well.

“CIMB has already partnered with Alibaba Group as business partners in payments. The other Malaysian banks should do [so] too. At least 1,500 Malaysian SMEs should join Alibaba’s platform to open up their market, so that it does not only benefit China’s businesses, but also Malaysia’s,” said Wee.