Malaysia faces longer-term challenges too

THE year 2014 will be singled out as an annus horribilis for Malaysia's national carrier, marked by the disappearance of its ill-fated Beijing-bound aircraft along with the 239 people who were onboard. As the world ponders the question that has confounded it for the last 18 days - "Where is MH370?" - a longer-term question to be considered is, "Where is Malaysia going?"

It now has less than six years to go before 2020 - the year by which the country is supposed to attain its "Wawasan 2020", the much-vaunted vision of becoming a fully developed nation. Even as the country moves forward, the engine that drives it is not as robust as before. Last year, Malaysia recorded a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4.7 per cent - down from 5.6 per cent in 2012, and lower than its average annual growth of 4.9 per cent from 2000 to 2012.

The prognosis for the future is not much better - the World Bank's forecast for Malaysia's growth rate this year stands at 4.8 per cent, followed by 4.9 per cent for 2015 and 2016. This falls short of the 6 per cent growth that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the country needs over the coming years to achieve the 2020 objective.