SHAH ALAM, July 6 — The inflow of quality investments with strong value chains has been one of the key drivers of Selangor’s economic expansion, allowing the state to log a gross domestic product (GDP) of RM460.1 billion in 2025, up 6.3 per cent from the previous year.
State executive councillor for investment, trade and mobility Ng Sze Han said Selangor’s economic performance is thanks to consistent policies that attract investment in technology-intensive sectors, resulting in spillover technologies and better-paying jobs for Malaysians.
He noted that the state’s sustained growth has allowed it to contribute 26.5 per cent of the nation’s economic performance, reinforcing Selangor’s role as Malaysia’s key growth engine and pillar of economic stability.
Ng said that under Selangor’s strategy to achieve a RM500 billion economy this year, the state government is focusing on hi-tech sectors, including semiconductor chip design, electric vehicles (EVs), digital economy, and aerospace.
“Selangor now accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the country’s aerospace activities. Our investment missions to the Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United States are aimed at attracting high-quality investments that create value, rather than simply pursuing large investment figures.
“With the Speed Selangor policy, we have reduced the approval period for factory construction to less than three months, compared with the national average of six months. As a result, Selangor recorded the highest approved investment value in Malaysia in the first quarter of 2026, at RM33.5 billion,” he told Bernama.
Ng said efforts to strengthen the investment ecosystem would continue under the Second Selangor Plan (RS-2), including by requiring foreign investors to incorporate local content requirements to ensure domestic suppliers benefit from incoming investments.
He said the objective of every approved investment is to provide high-skill, high-paying jobs for the domestic workforce.
“The state government’s principle is to ensure a strong economy translates into better quality of life for the people. For us, that is the true measure of successful policymaking,” added Ng.
Earlier, Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari said Selangor’s economy expanded strongly in 2025, with its GDP reaching RM460.1 billion, an increase of RM28 billion from the previous year.
Meanwhile, UniKL Business School’s Assoc Prof Aimi Zulhazmi Abdul Rashid said Selangor’s economic performance demonstrates how the state has evolved beyond being Malaysia’s largest GDP contributor into the country’s primary engine of economic growth.
He said Selangor’s 26.5 per cent contribution to the national GDP, along with its shares of 35.9 per cent in construction, 32.8 per cent in manufacturing and 27.1 per cent in services, mean the state’s economic performance has a direct impact on the national economy.
“Malaysia’s economic structure today largely reflects the model pioneered by Selangor, which achieved an advanced services- and manufacturing-based economy ahead of other states. The inflow of high-quality investments therefore provides an important foundation for preventing Malaysia from falling into the middle-income trap,” he said.
Aimi Zulhazmi said the success of an economy should not be measured solely by GDP figures, but by the extent to which growth raises incomes and strengthens the competitiveness of local companies.
He said that while Selangor’s success has become a catalyst for the national economy, the state continues to face domestic challenges like the high cost of living in districts such as Petaling and Shah Alam.
“To ensure long-term sustainable economic development, challenges relating to wealth distribution, wage growth, and the cost of living for local communities must be addressed comprehensively,” Aimi Zulhazmi added.
