KUALA LUMPUR: The government needs to focus on building a few quality companies instead of a mass of sluggish firms that can compete at the regional level and achieve its aspiration of becoming an Asean hub for various industries.

Consulting Board Asia founding partner Datuk Badlisham Ghazali said for Malaysia to become an Asean hub, as envisioned in the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 (WKB2030), the government needed to start looking at things differently, in terms of developing quality companies at the regional level.

“This (Asean hub) is not a new thing for Malaysia. We have been trying to get into a lot of these things such as in maritime, digital economy and fintech.

“Whether we are able to do it, yes, because we have been trying to do it since Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was the fourth prime minister, through the Vision 2020 and Multimedia Super Corridor, ” he told Bernama.

Badlisham said Malaysia did not have to know about becoming an Asean hub anymore as the country is already clear about the target through various attempts in the past.

“What we need to see is that if we want to become an Asean hub, we have to change our mindset. We cannot target to build end products. Malaysia is too small to say that we want to build the best driverless car in the world.

“We have to focus on what we can contribute to that kind of project for the regional or even world market. We should not be too broad (in planning to build a product). We should look at where we could build competencies to add value to the value chain, ” he said.

In doing so, Badlisham said Malaysian companies could then claim to be good or even the best in building some of the components for a particular project among Asean countries.

“In the past, we always think that to be the best, we must be the only one and the number one in that particular subject. We don’t have to go that far, we can be the second, third or among the top 10 in that particular subject, and that is already a great aspiration, ” he added. — Bernama

https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2019/11/11/msia-needs-quality-firms-to-become-industrial-hub