Manufacturing sector sales in November rose 11.40 percent year-on-year to RM29.30 billion for a third consecutive month of double-digit growth but were down 4.6 percent from October, official data showed today.

For the 11 months to November, manufacturing sales rose 10.20 percent year-on-year to RM310.80 billion, the Statistics Department said.

Economists said the strong performance reflected robust global semiconductor sales which jumped 25.70 percent year-on-year in the month to mark the fastest growth in three years. Rising domestic demand and improved Malaysian exports also fuelled sales, they said.

"I believe full-year growth in manufacturing sales will exceed 10 percent if this momentum is sustained in December," said Azrul Azwar, economist with MIDF SISMA Securities.

Manufacturing sales in September breached the RM30 billion level for the first time in three years, growing 12.70 percent to RM31 billion and then adding 12.4 percent in October to RM30.70 billion.

Big achievement

Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz was quoted by Bernama news agency as saying that Malaysia's exports were worth RM342.5 billion in the first 11 months of 2003 and were expected to hit RM380 billion for the whole year.

"This means that Malaysia has entered the league of countries whose exports amount to 100 billion dollars worth and for a small country, this is a big achievement," she said.

The manufacturing sector, which accounts for 30 percent of the economy, will remain the key growth engine and contribute more than 81 percent of the country's total exports, she added.

Prime Minister and Finance Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has said Malaysia's economic outlook remains rosy and predicted growth of 5.5 to 6.0 percent for this year, up from the 4.5 percent expected for 2003. - AFP