Malaysia, the Petrodollar Magnet
In late January, Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak proudly told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that his government believes that Malaysia can post a growth rate of above 5 percent per year and that the goal of annual per capita income of US$15,000 by 2020, which would turn Malaysia into a high-income nation, is achievable.
Malaysia's economic transformation has not really followed the government's script, which focused on the development of the biotech and electronics industries. Instead, the predominantly Muslim country rather unwittingly turned into the favored investment destination for "petrodollars" from the oil-producing Middle East thanks to its huge advantage resulting from the country's ethnic mix, dominant religion, languages and culinary tradition.
The most striking experience when visiting the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur is the highly visible presence of people from the Middle East. At least five of the nine core industries that are the focus of Malaysia's Economic Transformation Program depend on the influx of petrodollars from wealthy Arab investors. So it is only natural for Malaysia to play the role of "petrodollar catcher."
The five petrodollar-hungry industries are: financial services, tourism, education and medical care, food and agricultural products processing, and fairs and exhibitions. The other four industries singled out for priority development are electrical and electronics manufacturing, petrochemicals and oleochemicals, the creative industries, and logistics.
Devout Muslims follow a distinct lifestyle that includes all areas of life including dress, diet, entertainment and travel. Products and services that do not comply with Islamic doctrine are therefore not marketable to Muslim communities.
Last year, a tour group from the Middle East nearly went without eating during a trip to Taiwan because halal restaurants and foodstuffs – certified as permissible to eat under Islamic dietary guidelines – proved hard to find.
"If they don't see a halal certification sign, Muslims won't step into a restaurant," explains Ho Yoke Ping, general manager for sales and marketing at Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau.
Arab tourists already account for 40 percent of Malaysia's foreign visitors. And 66 percent of the local population is Muslim.
A Trade and Travel Hub for 1.8 Billion Muslims
In late November last year, the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center (KLCC) hosted Intrade Malaysia, an exhibition for exporters. Almost half of the visitors wore traditional Islamic clothing – head scarves and long, flowing robes.
Aside from the Arab countries, Malaysia is the only nation in the world where the government controls Muslim affairs. Foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals can only be imported into the country if they have been certified as halal by one of fifteen government-authorized institutions.
Once a product obtains certification in Malaysia, Muslim markets around the world recognize it as halal, notes Abdullah Fahim, chairman of the Islamic Food Research Center (IFRC) in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia issues the largest number of halal certificates in the world.
Multinational food giant Nestle has chosen Malaysia as production base for its halal products. Revenue in the Muslim food segment has been growing at a double-digit rate for several years in a row.
While Arabs account for 40 percent of Malaysia's recreational tourists, more or less the same Arabic presence is found at conferences, exhibitions and in medical tourism, notes Australian Peter Brokenshire, KLCC general manager. "In these sectors, Malaysia has no competitor," he asserts.
The Face of Modern Islam
Kuala Lumpur's glitzy department stores swarm with Muslim customers wearing colorful, stylish head scarves and lavishly spend their money.
City Center Park right next to the Petronas Twin Towers is packed with Muslim families enjoying the day. Fathers take snapshots of their frolicking children, watched over by mothers in head scarves, plucking up the hems of their long flowing dresses.
"In their own countries they probably wouldn't be able to dress that way," remarks Ho Chia-chun, a Taiwanese physician living in Kuala Lumpur. Suddenly he breaks into laughter, noting that Malaysia, as a less strict Muslim society, has certain unspoken incentives for Arab visitors. Since the weather is hot in Malaysia, the local women dress lightly and fashionably. "Haven't you noticed the Arab people sitting around in department stores, watching people come and go?" Ho asks rhetorically.
KLCC communications manager Kuzalmah Idris frankly admits that Malaysian women dress differently, in a more Westernized manner. "Right, we are modern Muslims," she quips. Idris wears a short skirt and her face is carefully made up.
At the time of the reporter's visit in late November it was not yet high season in Malaysia, yet occupancy in big hotels and smaller pensions invariably exceeded 90 percent. "We are booked that full during the whole year, it's been like that for a few years now," confirms the receptionist at our hotel.
During breakfast time, children with curly black hair and full dark eyelashes run around the hotel restaurant.
In disbelief, the reporter looks at a young couple from Abu Dhabi with their seven-year-old daughter in tow when she hears that they are visiting Kuala Lumpur for the ninth time this year.
Malaysia's popularity in the Muslim world seems unchallenged. The Global Islamic Finance Report 2012, published by Edbiz Consulting in cooperation with CIMB Islamic Bank, names Malaysia, not Singapore or Indonesia, as the gateway to the world's 1.8 billion Muslims.
Islamic Banks Post Fastest Growth
U.S. ratings agency Standard and Poor's also confirms that Malaysia controls the second largest amount of Islamic financial assets, right behind Saudi Arabia, and serves as the true transaction center of the Muslim world, issuing seventy percent of Sukuk Islamic bonds.
Standard and Poor's points out that global Islamic financial assets are worth US$5 trillion, about ten times Taiwan's GDP, and growing at the pace of 17 percent per year. In the past seven years, the average growth rate of the Islamic wealth management market reached 36 percent, making it the fastest growing financial service market worldwide.
Asian countries are competing for the petrodollar-based fortunes of wealthy Muslims. In addition to Singapore and Malaysia, China and Hong Kong have begun to aggressively enter the Islamic finance business. China has already designed a training program for Islamic wealth management planners.
Taiwan, however, seems to sit on the sidelines as others seize the business opportunity of Islamic finance.
Liu Tsung-sheng, president of Yuanta Securities Investment Trust Co., recently attended a seminar on Islamic finance in Kuala Lumpur. To his surprise, "the financial supervisory officials from Hong Kong and China were all there, but I didn't see anyone from Taiwan."
Mah Siew Keong, chairman of the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), notes that although Taiwan is Malaysia's eighth largest trade partner and investor, both trade and investment between the two countries have stagnated in recent years. "Taiwanese businesses should not miss out on the new direction Malaysia is going in development," Mah warns.
By Monique Hou
From Taiwan CommonWealth Magazine
Published: March 06, 2013 (No.517)
Translated from the Chinese by Susanne Ganz
撈油元、賺綠金 東盟雙雄馬泰爭鋒 1
投資未來，你不能不知道的東協雙子星
東盟——世界第二大、成長第一快的市場。最火熱的投資標的，正是馬來西亞、泰國。
馬來西亞掌控全球第二多伊斯蘭金融資産，成為18億伊斯蘭人口的門戶。
泰國點綠成金，已成亞洲綠能生産國第一，經濟、外資成長，雙雙創下東盟之冠。
搶進馬泰商機，就是現在！
“星馬之間要建高鐵，兩國繁榮接軌，馬來西亞一定更加火紅！”
嗅覺靈敏的日商、歐商、韓商、陸商、台商、以及動作慢半拍的美商，都已悄悄從中國大陸和和日本，轉往馬來西亞和泰國。
各項數據和發展都顯示，馬泰兩國，才是真正走在“東盟熱”紅地毯上的明星。
管理顧問公司埃森哲（Accenture）指出，泰國和馬來西亞遠比印尼先進、守法及強健，同時步上經濟轉型、動能驚人的黃金髮展期，“是投資未來最多的兩國。”
油元捕手——馬來西亞
1月底，馬來西亞首相納吉，在瑞士“世界經濟論壇”發表演說，矢言以每年5%的成長率，在2020年，晉升人均1萬5000美元的高收入國家。
馬國的經濟轉型，沒有真正轉向曾鎖定重點發展的生技和電子産業。反而因種族、宗教、語言和飲食的紅利，無心插柳，讓“油元”變成馬來西亞通往富國之鎖。
到大馬首都吉隆坡，最強烈的感受便是：“好多中東人啊！”
“馬來西亞經濟轉型計劃”，鎖定的9大産業，至少有5項依賴油元滿口袋的中東人。“油元捕手”這角色，非馬來西亞莫屬。
這5項産業是：金融顧問、觀光、教育與醫療、食品與農産品加工、會展。其余四大，則是電氣與電子製造、石化與油脂化學、創新産業、物流。
穆斯林的食衣住行娛樂，自成一格。不符教義的産品和服務，完全做不到他們的生意。
去年，一團中東觀光客到台灣旅遊，差點餓肚子，几乎找不到獲得認證的清真餐館和食品。
“沒看到清真認證的標誌，穆斯林是不會走進去的，”負責推廣獎勵旅遊及會展産業發展，馬來西亞會展局總經理何玉萍指出。
中東旅客已占馬來西亞外國旅客的四成。而占66%人口的馬來人，全是穆斯林。
去年11月底，吉隆坡國際會議中心舉辦馬來西亞出口商品展。由上往下俯看，觀展人潮近半穿着頭巾、長袍。
馬來西亞是中東之外，全球唯一由政府主管伊斯蘭事務的國家。食品、化妝品、藥品，都須經由政府認可的15家機構認證，才能進口。
“拿到馬來西亞的認證，全球伊斯蘭教市場都承認你，”認證機構IFRC總經理法信（Abdullah Fahim）指出，馬來西亞已成全球第一大清真商品認證國。
以馬來西亞為清真食品産銷基地的雀巢，營收連年以兩位數成長。
馬來西亞不只四成觀光客是中東人，會議、展覽、觀光醫療，“中東人的生意也占差不多的比例，”吉隆坡國際會議中心，澳洲籍CEO柏肯夏爾（Peter Brokenshire）指出，“這幾塊，沒有人拚得過馬來西亞。”
全球18億穆斯林門戶
吉隆坡的精品百貨公司，放眼望去，有六、七成都是戴着美麗頭巾、出手闊綽的穆斯林消費者。
“全世界18億回教人口的門戶，不是新加坡，不是印尼，是馬來西亞，”馬來西亞聯昌銀行《2012全球伊斯蘭金融報告》指出。
美國評等機構，標準普爾公司也證實，手握最多伊斯蘭金融資産的國家，除了沙地阿拉伯之外，就是馬來西亞。且真正的交易中心，非馬來西亞莫屬。七成伊斯蘭債券，都在馬來西亞發行。
標普指出，全球伊斯蘭金融資産規模已達5兆美元，相當於台灣GDP的10倍，且正以每年17%的速度成長。而過去7年，伊斯蘭財富管理市場的平均成長率，高達36%，是全球成長最快的金融服務。
亞洲垂涎以“油元”為主的伊斯蘭財富，除了星馬，中國和香港近年也積極經營伊斯蘭金融。中國已有伊斯蘭財富管理規劃師的訓練課程。
光华日报
