Malaysia’s Many Achievements

Some success stories:

1. A Harmonious and Peaceful Country
 With a population of about 29.7 million in 2013, Malaysia is a harmonious and peaceful country where various ethnic groups live together through mutual understanding and tolerance fostered over several decades of coexistence. The way the people of diverse backgrounds live peacefully and blend to form a unique society makes Malaysia a role model for many countries to emulate. The multicultural nature of the peoples of Malaysia forms a colourful and vibrant heritage that is bound to enthrall its visitors.

2. An Efficient and Globally Competitive Nation 
Since Malaysia gained independence in 1957, it has evolved into a high technology nation that has experienced steady economic progression and rapid infrastructure development which Malaysians are truly proud of. 

Today, Malaysia continues to thrive in its ventures and has become more efficient and competitive globally. According to the 2013 World Competitiveness Yearbook published by the Swiss-based Institute for Management Development (IMD), Malaysia ranked 15 among the most competitive countries in the world. The yearbook uses the ‘Overall Competitiveness Scoreboard’ which ranks the world’s 60 leading economic nations and takes into consideration economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.

In the World Economic Forum “Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014”, Malaysia was ranked the 24th most competitive nation among 148 countries. The ranking is based on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), which was introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2004. GCI scores are calculated by drawing country-level data covering 12 pillars that together make up a comprehensive picture of a country’s competitiveness. The 12 pillars are: institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation.

In addition, Malaysia moved from 12th (2013) to 6th position in the World Bank’s Doing Business (DB) Report 2014. This shows that Malaysia is ahead of many developed countries in terms of attracting businesses and investments.  

 3.      A Preferred Destination – Home and Vacation
Among the many countries in Asia, Malaysia has become a popular destination for foreigners and expatriates to call home. It is also a favoured place to vacation as Malaysia has a never-ending list of attractions that keep visitors coming back for more.

Accordingly to money.usnews.com, it is surprisingly easy for foreigners to obtain foreign residency and enjoy the special benefits as a result of that status. The Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme (available without age restriction) offers tax and other incentives.

The Long Stay Foundation Japan awarded Malaysia ‘the most preferred country to live in’ for Malaysia’s MM2H for six consecutive years (2006 to 2011). Malaysia was also ranked 3rd by International Living Magazine under the category of ‘The World’s Top Retirement Havens’ for 2013. 

The World Tourism rankings which are compiled by the United NationsWorld Tourism Organization (UNWTO) ranked Malaysia 10th on the list of most-visited countries for 2012, making it the only South-East Asian country to make UNWTO’s list. In 2012, Malaysia attracted 25 million tourist arrivals.

 Malaysia is also ranked 14th in terms of international tourist receipts with USD18.3 billion in 2011. Kuala Lumpur was recently ranked 4th in the World’s Best Shopping Cities by CNN Travel.  The Globe Shopper Index, which ranks 25 Asia-Pacific cities in their quest to be the world’s best shopping destination, ranked Kuala Lumpur as the 2nd Best Shopping Destination in Asia Pacific. 

Malaysia has a tradition of warm hospitality and welcomes people from around the world. In 2012, Forbes Online rated Malaysia as the 10th World’s Friendliest Country for expatriates, based on HSBC's Expat Explorer Survey, where 5,339 expatriates from 97 countries took part in the online survey. 

Lonely Planet, one of the most widely read travel guidebook, picked Malaysia as one of the world’s top 10 travel destinations for 2014. Malaysia, the only Asian country to have made the list in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2014 – Top 10, was ranked 10th, due to the country’s ability in ‘rolling out an array of new attractions’. 

 4.      A Preferred Study Destination for International Students   
Malaysia was rated the world’s 11th most preferred study destination according to UNESCO, and has captured a 2% market share of the world’s international students in the fast growing sector of private education. There are more than a million Malaysian students enrolled in tertiary education institutions in Malaysia, and at the beginning of 2012, the country accommodated more than 90,000 international students.  

5.      Best English Ability in Asia Malaysia was ranked no. 11 out of 60 countries in the world’s most comprehensive ranking of English ability. Malaysia also emerged as the country with the best English skills in Asia. The top 10 countries in the ranking were Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Estonia, Denmark, Austria, Finland, Poland, Hungary and Slovenia.  

Conducted by EF Education First, the EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) ranked 60 countries and territories by their English skills of adults, and analysed English proficiency trends over a six-year period. This year’s results were based on tests taken by 750,000 adults from 60 countries in 2012, while the analysis of English proficiency trends over a six-year period (2007 to 2012 inclusive) were based on test data from nearly five million adults.  

Welcome to Malaysia 
With the commitment of the government, the people of Malaysia and all other stakeholders, the welcoming environment and the many successful testimonies, you will discover that Malaysia is a WONDERFUL nation as a choice of study destination, vacation and investment.  

 Dated: 11-11-13 
Source: Study in Malaysia Handbook (9th International Edition), published by Challenger Concept