Anwar has been all over the world recently. Here’s who he’s been talking to

New Prime Minister/Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim has a tough act to follow. His predecessor Tengku Zafrul may have had his critics, but credit where it’s due, he did do some good things for our economy; FYI, our economy actually grew by 14.2% GDP in the 3^rd quarter (7% up from previous quarter), and had a further 7% growth by final quarter of 2022. That’s pretty impressive, even by regional standards.

According to Bank Negara, this growth was caused mainly by rising domestic demand and strong exporters, especially in the electrical and electronics industry. And while experts say this upwards trend might continue under Anwar Ibrahim’s premiership, whether or not he can fulfill that prediction remains to be seen…

What we can see, however, is that Anwar has indeed been busy flying here, there and everywhere in order to realize this prediction. We take a look at his business travel itinerary during his first 5 months in charge and break down his 4 biggest business deals with allies, which will hopefully spell big bucks for Malaysia.

1) Indonesia (8 – 9 January 2023)

After getting the hot seat, PM Anwar wasted no time in striking deals with our closest neighbours, starting with Indonesia. Now, some of us might already be aware of this, but Anwar is incredibly popular in Indonesia; in fact, the upcoming biopic on his life, Anwar: The Untold Story, is actually a joint Malaysian-Indonesian production.

Upon his arrival, Anwar discussed a variety of issues with his Indonesian counterpart President Jokowi, namely, the development of Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara, the 60 year-old issues of border demarcation (i.e. deciding who gets what piece of land/sea), and the issue of Indonesian migrant worker abuse in Malaysia. The last point was of particular importance to Anwar, who warned:

“We have given our assurance that strict action by the authorities, especially by the Royal Malaysia Police, will be taken.” – Anwar Ibrahim on migrant worker protection, quoted from BERNAMA

As a result of this meeting, several memorandums of understanding (MoU) were signed between Malaysian and Indonesian companies, witnessed by Anwar himself. The total value of these agreements? RM1.66 bilion (around Rp5.5 trillion), covering  various sectors including manufacturing, renewable energy, pharmaceutical and property development, as well as the development of Nusantara, cos, well, Nusantara profits = East Malaysian profits.

2) Brunei (24 – 25 January 2023)

Fun fact: Anwar really likes Brunei. This was actually his second visit there since becoming PM in November. But don’t take our word for it; here’s what he said about them:

“His Majesty (Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah) has been watching and following our development (in Malaysia). Friendship is important, and ours has been good and… kind of personal. Whenever I’m in distress, His Majesty always shows concern.” – Anwar Ibrahim

And while there, Anwar saw two MoUs signed between the two nations, focusing on potential investments in the oil and gas sector, digital economy, high-tech manufacturing, science-based agriculture, artificial intelligence, tourism, and the halal food industry.

It’s particularly interesting to note the potential collaboration on the digital economy and artificial intelligence; anyone who’s used ChatGPT will have realized just how dangerously quickly artificial intelligence (AI) is developing. However, many others, including Anwar Ibrahim, are optimistic on its potential for the future:

“If you’re left behind, then the whole generation will be lost. Malaysia, because of the unending political uncertainty in the past few years, these matters did not become the focus.” – Anwar Ibrahim, as quoted by BERNAMA

It’s projected that the Malaysian digital economy will make up 25.5% of its GDP in 2025. Will we see robot baristas in our cafes soon? Let’s wait and see.

3) Singapore (30 January 2023)

When a Malaysian visits Singapore, there’s usually a really good reason for it (spoiler alert: not food).

And Anwar’s trip to Singapore was arguably one of the most important for Malaysia thus far. After he met Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong, the pair signed 3 bilateral agreements, most importantly the Green Economy deal which would see Singapore import power from Malaysia for the first time. The amount they’re planning to spend on us? SGD$4 billion.

With that being said, there has been some friction between the two nations in the years leading up to this meeting, especially with:

• the whole Pedra Branca dispute (basically, a decades-long argument over ownership of an island),
• the cancellation of the KL-Singapore railway (though it’s possible that they might revive that soon),
• the whole chicken shortage fiasco (when Malaysia banned chicken exports to Singapore)…

…all of which, while relatively mundane, still left a bad taste in many Singaporeans’ mouths.

But with this new initiative, cooperation between Malaysia and Singapore may see its best years yet… hopefully.

4) China (29 March – 1 April)

If Anwar’s business visits were a competition to see which country could give Malaysia the most money, China just won. 19 MoUs (mainly focusing on the petrochemical and automotive industries) were signed between the two countries, amounting up to US$38.64 billion (RM170.07 billion) the highest in China’s history.

In Anwar’s words, such a commitment showed China’s ‘cooperation and confidence in Malaysia’, which is kinda a flex in itself, because who wouldn’t want Asia’s most powerful country on their side?

And this agreement doesn’t just end there. The ultimate goal of this partnership is to reduce Asia’s dependency on the USD; in fact, Malaysia and China are working towards an initiative to use RM and Yuan to trade, rather than the USD:

“There is no reason for a country like Malaysia to continue to depend on the US dollar” – Anwar Ibrahim, as quoted by The Star

Now that’s punching above your weight. But with Big Brother China on your side, there aren’t many who’d scare you, are there?

Anwar has been making moves back home as well as overseas

Like it or not, even back home Malaysians are already feeling the impact of the Anwar Administration, with some feeling it more than others. And it looks like Anwar’s recent policies are being aimed at getting the little guy back on his feet: while he’s increased taxes and cut subsidies for the rich, he has no plans to reintroduce GST, or any new broad-based consumption tax. Besides that, only multinational companies will be hit with an electricity tariff hike, while households and SMEs will remain unaffected.

And we bet there weren’t many Malaysians who complained when Anwar announced toll exemptions for the Raya season…

But despite this strong start, he hasn’t been controversy-free since he took the wheel at Putrajaya; he came under some scrutiny for some suspect decisions, such as appointing BN rival Zahid Hamidi as DPM (though it can be argued that we wouldn’t have a government if not for that), and more notably picking his daughter Nurul Izzah as his Senior Economics and Finance Advisor (she later took on a different, similar-but-less-controversial-role, we guess?).

Perhaps the main thing now for Anwar would be to take each day as it comes, starting with one immediate milestone: can he match, or even surpass the previous government’s economic record? Because if he does, any mistake he’s made may likely be forgotten, because y’know, a happy nation doesn’t complain… as much.