GEORGE TOWN, Sept 5 — The 13 per cent growth in exports in the country’s electrical and electronics (E&E) sector in the first half of the year will bring about better growth for the country’s overall economy, international trade and industry minister Datuk Seri Mustapha Mohamed said today.

“A healthy E&E sector will bring better growth as it is an important sector for the country,” he said at the opening of Motorola Solutions’ research and development centre here this morning.

The minister said this year’s 13 per cent growth in E&E exports is a promising trend for the sector, which makes up 33 per cent of total manufacturing exports, as last year, exports only grew by 2.4 per cent.

The country recorded a robust 6.3 per cent gross domestic product growth in the first half of this year.

The minister said even in the first and second quarters of this year, the country recorded GDP growths of 6.2 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively.

“Malaysia recorded the highest average growth in Asia for the first half of this year,” he noted.

He said the country will continue to attract investors but must first overcome its human capital challenges.

“We are facing human capital challenges and we need more engineers especially with investors setting up R&D centres here such as Motorola,” he said..

That is why the government has given added focus on human capital training to produce more engineers to fill the gaps.