Media Release: Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Report 2011
25 Jun 2012 04:20 PM

Minister of International Trade and Industry Dato' Sri Mustapa Mohamed, today said “the nation must improve its economic performance if the targets of the Economic Transformation Programme are to be met.”

He said his Ministry will take the initiative to be the “lead advocate” of a campaign to work with all parties to improve national economic competitiveness.

“MITI will work with the business community to get this done.”

“We will also work with other Ministries and government agencies to deliver a level of public service that the transformation agenda demands.”

Dato' Mustapa Mohamed was speaking at the launch of the Ministry's Report for 2011. The Report is themed “Driving Transformation, Powering Growth” and is the 20 th publication in the series.

The Report highlights developments in Malaysia's trade, investment and productivity sectors in the past year. It also focuses on activities related to green industries, entrepreneurship development and the Ministry's turun padang programme.

Malaysia's economy grew by 5.1 per cent in 2011, with the manufacturing sector recording a 4.5 per cent increase while the services sector grew at 6.8 per cent. This performance was achieved in the face of a challenging international environment dominated by the Euro zone sovereign debt crisis and the slow recovery of the United States' economy.

Dato' Mustapa said improving economic competitiveness has been Malaysia's overriding priority. Measures which have been taken for this purpose include liberalizing sectors of the economy and institute wide-ranging reforms to improve efficiency levels and boost investor confidence. Increasing productivity, promoting innovation and creating a business friendly environment were also key areas of emphasis, he added.

MITI has a key role in the implementation of the Economic transformation Programme. In 2011 we worked closely with industry and PEMANDU to ensure that the Entry Point Projects, specifically in the E&E sector, were implemented as planned. An integral part of the implementation of these projects is ensuring that we continue to be business-friendly. In this context, MITI worked with PEMUDAH to do away with unnecessary business licences.

To illustrate his point, Dato' Mustapa referred to the project undertaken by PEMUDAH to simplify and reduce business licensing requirements. The exercise began in March last year and 767 business licenses were reviewed.

The Minister said that following the review, PEMUDAH recommended that 49% of these licenses be either abolished or consolidated. This eliminated compliance cost of nearly RM729 million. And to simplify matters further, nearly all business licenses can now be applied for online.

Dato' Mustapa said measures such as this have boosted Malaysia's overall economic performance and contributed to an improvement in its international competitiveness. The Minister cited the findings of a number of surveys to underline his point:

Going forward, The Minister said MITI's investment promotion programme will continue to focus on positioning Malaysia as a preferred destination for investments in high technology and knowledge-based industries. The services sector will undergo further liberalization to lead growth in the economy.

MITI and its agencies will be introducing a number of organisational changes to enable it to deliver a higher standard of service. We will be setting up consolidated Trade and Investment Centres globally, for example - starting with Seoul, Shanghai, Frankfurt, New York and London - to coordinate trade and investment activities more efficiently.

At the local level, MITI will be setting up regional centres to reach out to business and members of the public more effectively. The first such centre will be in Malacca and will be located at the proposed Urban Transformation Centre. All MITI services, including those provided by its agencies, will be made available at these centres. This is done in the siprit of 1Malaysia and the change in the business environment. This will see us making better use of our resources and projecting a stronger image of Malaysia.

Dato' Mustapa added that MITI will continue to undertake activities to engage with the rakyat and Small and Medium Entrepreneurs through turun padang programmes. These activities provide valuable feedback and assist in the formulation of policies.

 The MITI Report 2011 is a valuable source of information and data on Malaysia's trade and industry. It will be of particular interest to investors, analysts, students and academicians.

Ministry of International Trade and Industry
Kuala Lumpur
20 June 2012