Regional economic corridors established has also expanded and transformed the Malaysian investment landscape to be more geographically diverse and extending the development throughout Malaysia. The emergence of new growth areas in Malaysia such as renewable energy (e.g. solar) and semiconductors in fast-growing segments such as automotive, medical devices and telecommunications, has enabled Malaysia to be plugged into the global supply chain. Investment in the manufacturing sector has moved towards higher value-added activities, shifting from basic production and assembly to producing goods which have advance applications such as in the automotive and healthcare sectors. As a country which is strategically located within close radius of two of the most populous economies in the world, China and India, Malaysia is centrally located in Asia, more broadly, and in ASEAN, in particular. With the conception of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), companies would benefit from the stronger economic inter linkages through greater cross  BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  border liberalisation and increased intra-ASEAN trade. Firms in this region will gain greater market access to 630 million people that are generating economic region that is worth USD2.4 trillion. The increasing importance of Asia in the global economy has raised international interest to better understand Asia – the economies, businesses and the people that comprise the region. On that note, I would like to mention that Bank Negara Malaysia has entered into a collaboration agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan) to establish the Asia School of Business (ASB) in Kuala Lumpur.
But is also makes the case for policymakers developing macroprudential instruments that could be used to lean against future credit booms and for making our financial system more resilient. If we could manage that, it might be the most significant extension in the overall international macro policy framework in a generation. Price stability, financial stability and sustainable growth. They need each other. 14  For example, see Reinhart C M and K S Rogoff (2009), “The Aftermath of Financial Crises”, American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 2009, 99:2, 466–472 and Hoggarth G and V Saporta (2001) “Costs of banking instability: some empirical evidence”, Bank of England Financial Stability Review, Issue 10, June. 10  BIS Review 21/2010  Charts Chart 1: UK GDP and sectoral output(a)  Chart 2: World industrial production Contribution to annualised quarterly industrial production growth (pp)  15 10 5 0 -5 -10 -15  High Income Countries Developing countries excl China China World Total  -20 -25 -30  2007Q1  2007Q3  2008Q1  2008Q3  2009Q1  2009Q3  (a) Chained-volume measures. GDP is at market prices. Indices of sectoral output are at basic prices. Source: World Bank  Chart 3: Business investment to GDP ratio(a)  Chart 4: Nominal GDP  (a) Chained-volume measures. Recessions are defined as two consecutive quarters of falling output (at constant market prices) estimated using the latest data. (a) At current market prices.