The Bersatu deputy president said Malaysia must revisit its economic structure and revamp governance in key areas, identifying deep-rooted policy and governance weaknesses as the main barriers to growth.
“A full restructuring is essential to ensure that the country remains economically resilient for the next 50 to 60 years. That means overhauling current policies and bringing in experts to help us navigate global shifts,” he told FMT.
He highlighted the weakness of Malaysia’s industrial base, drawing a comparison with Taiwan and noting that although both countries started at similar levels in the 1970s, Taiwan has since surged far ahead.
“For example, we’ve been content focusing on the midstream segment of the semiconductor industry, without progressing upstream or downstream. We need to reassess this and by doing so, we’ll also need to reconsider our capital base,” said Hamzah, who is also Perikatan Nasional deputy chairman.
He said the current situation limits Malaysia’s potential to capture higher value-added activities and profits, missing opportunities to maximise its role in the full value chain, emphasising the need to reconsider the country’s workforce to support this shift.
However, Hamzah said that addressing human capital will require an even more thorough evaluation process, which will lead to reforms in other areas as well.
“To reassess our human capital, we have to look at education, finance, resources, and commodities. Everything needs to be restructured,” he said.
Hamzah also questioned Malaysia’s over-reliance on imports despite abundant land and resources, especially for agriculture. “We have enough land to grow rice, yet we import nearly 40% of it. There’s something wrong with this structure,” he said.
He added that addressing these issues is pivotal in improving the industrial base as a whole.
Last year, the World Bank’s lead economist for Malaysia, Apurva Sanghi, predicted that Malaysia would achieve high-income nation status by 2028. He attributed this to the country’s strong economic performance, including a boost to the 2024 growth forecast from 4.3% to 4.9%.
Importance of youth engagement
Hamzah highlighted the importance of young people in determining the country’s progress. Education must be aligned with the nation’s economic policies, he said.
“You can’t simply encourage the young to pursue higher education without ensuring it matches the current policies, or else there will be a mismatch,” he said.
He said the current mismatch has caused many educated young people to struggle with earning income, often finding those without tertiary education making more money.
Hamzah called on leaders to connect with young people and help them understand and embrace the nation’s vision – only then would they have confidence that today’s leadership won’t leave them behind.