Malaysia rolls out four strategies to tackle supply chain crisis

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysia announced a comprehensive action plan to address the global supply chain crisis through four key strategic priorities.

Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said the first priority was securing supply, particularly of food, energy, medicine, and essential goods. The second was extending and optimising existing supplies through subsidy management, leakage control, and enforcement.

The third was curbing price increases to ensure that cost pressures were not passed on in full to the public. The fourth was capitalising on new opportunities, including in biodiesel, sustainable fuel, and alternative energy sources.

Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.4% in the first quarter of 2026, coupled with the unemployment rate remaining at full-employment levels, provides a strong foundation for the government to implement more structured, proactive and responsive measures to address current economic challenges, he said.

Akmal said Malaysia’s GDP growth outperformed several major economies that have announced their first-quarter 2026 GDP performance, including Singapore, the Philippines and China.

According to a survey by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) on the impact of the energy crisis and global supply disruption on the manufacturing sector, pressures were widespread, with the five most affected subsectors being automotive and components, food and beverages, plastics and packaging, chemicals and petrochemicals, and electrical and electronics.

Akmal said the government was particularly concerned about small and medium enterprises, which had more limited financial capacity to absorb prolonged cost pressures./.

VNA