Malaysia’s steel industry has been struggling to compete in the global steel market, and as a result, the country’s economy is on the decline, according to a new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Malaysia Steel Industry: A Year in Review, released last week, highlights Malaysia’s weak performance in steel exports, which have fallen by more than half since 2014.
This has led to a decline in its economy’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, and the loss of around 8,000 jobs, the report found.
The report also revealed that Malaysia’s GDP per capita has fallen by 4 percent since 2016, which has resulted in the loss and shutdown of some of the countrys largest steel mills.
“Malaysian steelmakers have been unable to meet the high demand from the global market, which was the key driver of the economy in 2016, and now they have not been able to meet this demand,” said Paul Gorman, the GAO’s acting director of the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Energy.
“They’ve struggled to attract new customers in the United States and China.”
Malaysians steel industry is struggling to recruit and retain workers, and many are still working without benefits, according the report.
The GAO found that many of the steelmakers were struggling to attract qualified workers, including skilled workers, who would otherwise be competing with foreign firms, including the likes of Tata Steel in India and Hindustan Steel in China.
Despite the loss in international steel exports in 2016 and the slowdown in 2016-17, the Government Accountability Committee report said that the government has made efforts to recruit skilled workers for the industry.
The Government Accountability committee also found that the Government had invested $1.6 billion to recruit, train, and retain more than 1,300 steelworkers for the steel industry.
The Government Accountability report found that about one-third of Malaysia’s workers were still unemployed, and that the country has not recovered fully from the 2016 financial crisis.
It also found the Government has not implemented an effective workforce management system, which is necessary to create and maintain jobs.