ABSTRACT
Economic reforms in Malaysia, whether to alleviate poverty and reduce unequal wealth distribution or to promote economic growth, tend also to have important political implications, often related to the multi-ethnic nature of the country's population. This interlinking between politics and economic restructuring is particularly manifest in the area of privatization. The introduction of privatization in 1983 was significant as it marked a major change in Government policy, involving a departure from its earlier reliance on the use of public enterprises to provide infrastructure and public utilities, to bolster economic growth and redistribute wealth and employment. While the impetus for privatization may have been justified by the poor performance of such public enterprises, the shift towards more market-oriented development policies has also been influenced by the election to power of strong conservative governments and the ascendancy of their intellectual supporters in major industrialized countries in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
