Credit Management January February 2024

COUNTRY FOCUS
In 2015, 61.8 percent of Malaysians were
indigenous; 21.4 percent Chinese; 6.4 percent
Indian; 0.9 percent were ‘others’; and Non-
Malaysian Resident made up 9.6 percent of the
population, 24.9 percent were aged 0 to 14; 69.2
percent aged 15 to 64 years; and just 5.8 percent
were 65 or older.
And on religion, the US State Department
points to the 2020 census where 63.5 percent
of the population practice Islam; 18.7 percent
Buddhism; 9.1 percent Christianity; 6.1 percent
Hinduism; 9 percent other religious groups that
include animists, Confucianists, Taoists, Sikhs,
Jehovah’s Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints (Church of Jesus Christ),
and Baha’is. Others are 2.6 percent.
Malaysia may well
be split across a sea
but with its overall
geographic location and
resources the country is
well worth a look.
Rural areas – especially in the peninsular
east coast of the country – are predominantly
Muslim, while the states of Sabah and Sarawak
on the island of Borneo have relatively higher
numbers of non-Muslims. With such a diverse
population being sensitive to local customs is
essential.
In terms of the east-west population split, the
east is the poorer relation with fewer people and
less industrialisation.
According to Current Population Estimates,
Malaysia, 2014-2016, 79 percent of the populace
are concentrated in Peninsular Malaysia, which
has an area of 131,598 sq. km – just under 40
percent of the total area of Malaysia.
A 2015 document from Munich Personal
RePEc Archive, Is There Any Regional Price
Disparity in Peninsular Malaysia?, commented
that “peninsular Malaysia is generally more
economically developed… the west coast is more
developed, urbanised, and separated from the
more rural east coast by a mountain range.”
Peninsular Malaysia can be divided into four
regions – the northern, central, southern regions
on the west coast and eastern region on the east
coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
The central region is home to the capital,
Kuala Lumpur, and has the highest population
density and the most developed infrastructure.
It contains Malaysia's biggest airport – the
Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the
largest seaport in the country – Port Klang. The
archive notes that due to its strategic location
and government policy almost half of Malaysia’s
container trade – albeit in 2013 - is handled
by this seaport, which is located 38 km away
from Kuala Lumpur. The port was ranked 14th
by volume for 2022 in One Hundred
Container Ports 2023 published by Lloyd's List.
Handling 13.2m twenty-foot equivalent units
(TEU) it’s a hair behind Antwerp’s 13.5m TEU.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2024 / PAGE 36