_#_Communists: Peninsular Malaysia—about 1,000 armed insurgents on
Thailand side of international boundary and about 200 full time inside
Malaysia surrendered on 2 December 1989; about 50 Communist insurgents in
Sarawak surrendered on 17 October 1990
_#_Member of: APEC, AsDB, ASEAN, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT,
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OIC, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Abdul MAJID Mohamed; Chancery at 2401 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 328-2700; there are Malaysian Consulates General in Los Angeles and New York;
US—Ambassador Paul M. CLEVELAND; Embassy at 376 Jalan Tun Razak, 50400 Kuala Lumpur (mailing address is P. O. Box No. 10035, 50700 Kuala Lumpur); telephone [60] (3) 248-9011
_#_Flag: fourteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top) alternating with white (bottom); there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a yellow crescent and a yellow fourteen-pointed star; the crescent and the star are traditional symbols of Islam; the design was based on the flag of the US
_*Economy #_Overview: In 1988-90 booming exports helped Malaysia continue to recover from the severe 1985-86 recession. Real output grew by 8.8% in 1989 and 10% in 1990, helped by vigorous growth in manufacturing output, further increases in foreign direct investment, particularly from Japanese and Taiwanese firms facing higher costs at home, and increased oil production in 1990. Malaysia has become the world's third-largest producer of semiconductor devices (after the US and Japan) and the world's largest exporter of semiconductor devices. Inflation remained low as unemployment stood at 6% of the labor force and as the government followed prudent fiscal/monetary policies. The country is not self-sufficient in food, and some of the rural population subsists at the poverty level. Malaysia's high export dependence leaves it vulnerable to a recession in the OECD countries or a fall in world commodity prices.
_#_GDP: $43.1 billion, per capita $2,460; real growth rate 10% (1990)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.1% (1990 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: 6% (1990)
_#_Budget: revenues $12.6 billion; expenditures $11.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $3.2 billion (1991 est.)