Malaysia, one of the world’s leading commodity...

Malaysia, one of the world’s leading commodity exporters, now has a booming industrial sector, according to the country’s principal research institute.

The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research, reporting on business conditions during the first three months of 1988, said the manufacturing sector now led economic growth and had ended the first quarter with a vibrant performance.

“Economic growth for 1988 is likely to be much better than last year,” the survey said, without giving a forecast.

Malaysia’s Central Bank last month forecast that gross domestic product growth would be around 5% this year compared with a 4.7% figure last year and 1.2% in 1986. The bank also said in its annual report that for the first time manufacturing overtook agriculture as the most important sector of the Malaysian economy in 1987, accounting for 22.4% of gross domestic product.

Malaysia has recently introduced a range of incentives to attract foreign capital and promote industrialization to reduce its dependence on volatile world commodity prices.