Prosper-Thy-Neighbour: Malaysia's Contributions after the Asian Financial Crisis

The 1997 financial crisis prompted various governments in the region to launch initiatives to restore economic stability and growth. These efforts also addressed the issue of developmental divide in ASEAN. Within ASEAN, Malaysia ranked second in terms of exports, imports, openness, and foreign reserves. Over the years, with further recovery, Malaysia's development continues to outpace the development of the CLMV countries, thereby enabling it to contribute towards the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI). However, Malaysia's IAI projects are rather small due to funding limitations. This article suggests that the existing programme can be supplemented by outbound training in the individual CLMV countries, which would be more cost-effective and could benefit a larger group of trainees. Also, greater efforts can be made to harness the private sector to fund projects that can meet their strategic interests in these countries