Kuala Lumpur - The Malaysian government announced Wednesday that it would immediately remove a 30-per-cent requirement for ethnic Malay ownership in 27 service sectors.

Prime Minister Najib Razak said the move would involve sectors such as health, tourism, business and computer-related services.

"The liberalization of the services sector is pursued with the view of creating a conducive business environment to attract investments, technologies and higher value employment opportunities," Najib was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

The services sector contributed 55 per cent of Malaysia's gross domestic product last year, and the government hopes to raise it to 60 per cent, he said.

Najib stressed that opening up the sector, which accounts for 57 per cent of total employment in Malaysia, would not adversely affect the domestic services industry. (dpa)