:Malaysia Government

Sarawak:
coalition Sarawak National Front composed of the Party Pesaka Bumiputra
Bersatu (PBB), Datuk Patinggi Amar Haji Abdul TAIB Mahmud; Sarawak United
People's Party (SUPP), Datuk Amar James WONG Soon Kai; Sarawak National
Party (SNAP), Datuk Amar James WONG; Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), Datuk
Leo MOGGIE; major opposition parties are Democratic Action Party (DAP), LIM
Kit Siang and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), Fadzil NOOR
Suffrage:
universal at age 21
Elections:
House of Representatives:
last held 21 October 1990 (next to be held by August 1995); results -
National Front 52%, other 48%; seats - (180 total) National Front 127, DAP
20, PAS 7, independents 4, other 22; note - within the National Front, UMNO
got 71 seats and MCA 18 seats
Member of:
APEC, AsDB, ASEAN, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-15, 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; FAX [60] (3) 242-2207
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

:Malaysia Economy

Overview:
During the period 1988-91 booming exports helped Malaysia continue to
recover from the severe 1985-86 recession. Real output grew by 8.8% in 1989,
10% in 1990, and 8.6% in 1991, 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. 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 has remained low; unemployment
has stood at 6% of the labor force; and the government has followed prudent
fiscal/monetary policies. The country is not self-sufficient in food, and
some of the rural population subsist 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:
exchange rate conversion - $48.0 billion, per capita $2,670; real growth
rate 8.6% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
4.5% (1991 est.)
Unemployment rate:
5.8% (1991 est.)
Budget:
revenues $12.2 billion; expenditures $14.4 billion, including capital
expenditures of $3.2 billion (1991 est.)
Exports:
$35.4 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
electrical manufactures, crude petroleum, timber, rubber, palm oil, textiles
partners:
Singapore, US, Japan, EC
Imports:
$38.7 billion (c.i.f., 1991)
commodities:
food, crude oil, consumer goods, intermediate goods, capital equipment,
chemicals
partners:
Japan, US, Singapore, Germany, UK
External debt:
$21.3 billion (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 18% (1990); accounts for 40% of GDP
Electricity:
5,600,000 kW capacity; 16,500 million kWh produced, 940 kWh per capita
(1990)
Industries:
Peninsular Malaysia:
rubber and oil palm processing and manufacturing, light manufacturing
industry, electronics, tin mining and smelting, logging and processing
timber
Sabah:
logging, petroleum production
Sarawak:
agriculture processing, petroleum production and refining, logging
Agriculture:
Peninsular Malaysia:
natural rubber, palm oil, rice
Sabah:
mainly subsistence, but also rubber, timber, coconut, rice

:Malaysia Economy

Sarawak:
rubber, timber, pepper; there is a deficit of rice in all areas; fish catch
of 608,000 metric tons in 1987
Illicit drugs:
transit point for Golden Triangle heroin going to the US, Western Europe,
and the Third World
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-84), $170 million; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $4.7 million; OPEC
bilateral aid (1979-89), $42 million
Currency:
ringgit (plural - ringgits); 1 ringgit (M$) = 100 sen
Exchange rates:
ringgits (M$) per US$1 - 2.6930 (January 1992), 2.7501 (1991), 1.7048
(1990), 2.7088 (1989), 2.6188 (1988), 2.5196 (1987)
Fiscal year:
calendar year

:Malaysia Communications

Railroads:
Peninsular Malaysia:
1,665 km 1.04-meter gauge; 13 km double track, government owned
Railroads:
Sabah:
136 km 1.000-meter gauge
Highways:
Peninsular Malaysia:
23,600 km (19,352 km hard surfaced, mostly bituminous-surface treatment, and
4,248 km unpaved)
Sabah:
3,782 km
Sarawak:
1,644 km
Inland waterways:
Peninsular Malaysia:
3,209 km
Sabah:
1,569 km
Sarawak:
2,518 km
Pipelines:
crude oil 1,307 km; natural gas 379 km
Ports:
Tanjong Kidurong, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Pasir Gudang, Penang, Port Kelang,
Sandakan, Tawau
Merchant marine:
167 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,653,633 GRT/2,444,393 DWT; includes
1 passenger-cargo, 1 short-sea passenger, 64 cargo, 27 container, 2 vehicle
carrier, 2 roll-on/roll-off, 1 livestock carrier, 37 petroleum tanker, 5
chemical tanker, 6 liquefied gas, 21 bulk
Civil air:
53 major transport aircraft
Airports:
115 total, 108 usable; 33 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways
over 3,659 m; 7 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 18 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
good intercity service provided to Peninsular Malaysia mainly by radio
relay; adequate intercity radio relay network between Sabah and Sarawak via
Brunei; international service good; good coverage by radio and television
broadcasts; 994,860 telephones (1984); broadcast stations - 28 AM, 3 FM, 33
TV; submarine cables extend to India and Sarawak; SEACOM submarine cable
links to Hong Kong and Singapore; satellite earth stations - 1 Indian Ocean
INTELSAT and 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT, and 2 domestic

:Malaysia Defense Forces

Branches:
Royal Malaysian Army, Royal Malaysian Navy, Royal Malaysian Air Force, Royal
Malaysian Police Force, Marine Police, Sarawak Border Scouts
Manpower availability:
males 15-49, 4,728,103; 2,878,574 fit for military service; 179,486 reach
military age (21) annually
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $2.4 billion, about 5% of GDP (1992 budget)