Malaysia’s Current Economy and Translators

By Sarah-Claire Jordan

Known for many things besides the products it exports, such as its beaches, mix of languages and cultures, and much more, Malaysia does have an economy that is a bit fragile right now de to many factors. The economic state of Malaysia is very much connected to its relationship with China, which many other countries in the area experience as well. If China decides to decrease the amount of products it imports from Malaysia, Malaysia ends up in a bit of an economic pickle. It can definitely overcome the economic circumstances, but this (hopefully) temporary dilemma does have some interesting consequences for the rest of us.

Another issue that is lurking around and muddling Malaysia’s great business reputation is the fact that there are more than a few corruption and bribery investigations under way, which involve a lot of higher-ups in the corporate world and government, most notably the Prime Minister. This is affecting the economy in the sense that it is discouraging foreign investors from trusting in the Malaysian economy. If there is so much corruption going on, how can they be sure they will get the most out of their investment? This is the mentality that is keeping many from considering working with Malaysia.

One consequence of all of this that translators who work with Malaysian as a source or target language may have to deal with is a change in the demand for Malaysian translation. In the case of the corruption and bribery issues, this could be some Malaysian news/magazine translator’s big break, but otherwise translation into (and from) Malaysian might not be as in-demand as it is when China is importing so much from Malaysia.

This doesn’t take into account, however, the fact that Malaysia is still a strong economy. It is the 3rd largest in Southeast Asia, which is nothing to scoff at. What is going on right now is more than likely a temporary setback in a journey to become a huge economic power beyond the region of Southeast Asia. If translators and investors can just weather this storm a bit, they might be surprised to find that Malaysia will come out on its feet, and possibly better than before.

China isn’t the only power who is interested in what Malaysia has to offer, either. The U.S. and Canada have a huge market for Malaysian goods, as do other countries, so that could be what keeps Malaysia going while it sorts out its own issues. Along with that, the government is trying to promote economic growth in Malaysia as much as it can, with the goal of having it on the same level as China and others by 2020. In that case, it really is just a matter of surviving this difficult economic time to reap the rewards of many more jobs and investment opportunities in the country, which will in turn create more jobs for translators, especially those who specialize in technical and software localization and translation such as Alpha Omega Translations.

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Category: Foreign Language