Malaysia consistently spends more on infrastructure as a percentage of GDP than any other country in Southeast Asia, and this has been above 9% for almost all fiscal years since 2005, except 2015. The country's infrastructure programs are part of its 5-year national development plans; the Eleventh Malaysia Plan, 2016-2020 is titled Anchoring Growth on People. The plan, prepared by the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister's Department, has six strategic thrusts: (i) enhancing inclusiveness, (ii) improving well-being for all, (iii) accelerating human capital development to become an advanced nation, (iv) pursuing green growth for sustainability and resilience, (v) strengthening infrastructure to support economic growth, and (vi) reengineering economic growth for greater prosperity. The fifth strategic thrust focuses on building an integrated, needs-based transport system; promoting the growth of logistics; enhancing trade facilitation; improving the coverage, quality, and affordability of digital infrastructure; continuing water services reforms; and encouraging sustainable energy use.
The government expects that planned mega infrastructure projects will make Malaysia a RM2 trillion ($505 billion) economy by about 2025. These projects include the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail project, the Pan Borneo Highway, the East Coast Rail Link, Bandar Malaysia, and Vision Valley.1 The government is providing tax incentives to attract a targeted RM6.5 billion ($1.5 billion) in infrastructure investments and to create 14,000 jobs until 2025.