KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 — The Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah said there is a need to develop a more open and resilient Malaysian society and economy to move the country forward to the next level and achieve a high-income status in line with its potential.

He said two other key structural transitions needed to achieve these goals were establishing a truly just and equitable society, and taking full advantage of the current wave of technological transformation.

In making the economy and society resilient, competitive and performance-based, he noted that Malaysia was currently the world’s 22nd freest economy according to an international economic freedom index, reflecting its attractiveness as a destination for inward investment, as well as the central role of trade in its economy.

"But this position is by no means assured as many other countries are engaging in the rapid removal of domestic barriers to trade to attract investment,” he said.

Sultan Nazrin said this when addressing the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia’s Praxis Seminar on the theme of ‘A Time for Transitions: The Malaysian Economy To 2020’ here today.

At the same time, he said, there were growing restrictions on trade being implemented by some high-income countries to protect domestic industries and jobs.

"This adds to the urgency for smaller open economies such as our own to take active steps to secure wider market access,” Sultan Nazrin said.

On the need to establish a truly just and equitable society, Sultan Nazrin said based on income figures, it was perhaps not surprising that there were frequent complaints about the rising cost of living.

He noted that with low earning capacity, the average employee was unable to accumulate enough savings to fund their housing needs, children’s education or retirement.

"How this challenge will be met is something that calls for in-depth and objective study. Without adequate economic security, it is difficult to develop the social cohesion that is the foundation of a functioning economy,” he said.

On the necessity to leverage technological transformation, Sultan Nazrin said that being in a technology-centric region provided many opportunities for knowledge-sharing and for learning from regional best practices.

Malaysia, he said, could benefit greatly from the knowledge and insights of countries that were ahead of it.

"With the country’s youthful population, existing expertise in ICT and established manufacturing and service sectors, Malaysia has the potential to take on Smart Manufacturing or Industry 4.0, and to thrive,” he said. — Bernama