Malaysia

The growth of private higher education institutions (PHEIs) in Malaysia is politically and economically motivated. Excess demand and the use of ethnic quotas in a limited number of public universities with the implementation of the New Economic Policy in 1970 had raised the potential for inter-ethnic conflicts in multi-ethnic Malaysia. The government therefore utilized private provision to supplement public supply thereby increasing access and reducing the possibility of inter-ethnic conflicts due to limited access. Over time the perennial deficit in services trade since independence in 1957 contributed to the idea of using private higher education to reduce student outflows and its negative impact on services trade and instead to increase export revenues through inflows of international students. This led to the aspiration to be a regional hub for higher education based on Malaysia’s comparative advantage in terms of costs and language via the use of English in transnational programmes offered in PHEIs with degrees awarded by parent institutions in developed countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom.

The seventh Trade Policy Review of Malaysia has offered us a good opportunity to deepen our understanding of its trade and investment policies. I would like to thank the Malaysian delegation led by H.E. J. Jayasiri Secretary General of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry for its constructive engagement throughout this Review. I would also like to thank the discussant H.E. Ambassador Claudio de la Puente of Peru for his insightful remarks and all the delegations that took the floor for their valuable contributions. The 476 questions submitted by 27 Members and the interventions by 43 delegations underline the importance attached to Malaysia’s trade and investment policies and practices. Malaysia’s use of the alternative timeframe to reply to advance written questions to this TPR was also appreciated.