BEIJING, Nov 9 (Bernama) — Malaysia has called for the reconvening of the World Trade Organisation’s Information Technology Agreement (ITA) expansion negotiations and urged for swift conclusion. Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, reiterated Malaysia’s commitment in concluding the ITA expansion negotiations, at the APEC ministerial meeting here. “We hope to see the implementation of the ITA2 agreement in the shortest timeframe possible as it will bring benefits to our economy and promote trade growth,” he said in a statement here today. The business community has a lot to gain from this initiative, he said. It would also support the government’s efforts at creating jobs, he said. Malaysia’s total trade in information communication technology (ICT) and electrical & electronic products in 2013 amounted to US$107 billion while exports totalled US$62 billion and imports amounted to US$45 billion. The ITA expansion negotiations...

As the 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Beijing encourage more regional investment, China is welcome to do so in Malaysia, said Mustapa Mohamed, Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI), on Sunday.As the 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Beijing encourage more regional investment, China is welcome to do so in Malaysia, said Mustapa Mohamed, Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI), on Sunday. Mustapa said this when speaking of the big investment imbalance between Malaysia and China in an interview with Xinhuanet. Indeed, the ratio between Chinese investment in Malaysia and Malaysian investment to China is about one to six. “In other words, for every one U.S. dollar of Chinese investment in Malaysia, we have six U.S. dollars of Malaysian investment in China”, said Mustapa. China’s investment abroad in the next 10 years is expected to reach 1.25 trillion U.S. dollars, said President...

BEIJING, Nov 11 (Bernama) — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today attended the second day of the 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Meeting (AELM) with a retreat session at the main venue, Yangi Lake. Today’s session started with a leaders’ welcoming ceremony hosted by China’s President Xi Jinping and later adjourned for a photo session. The leaders of the 21 Apec economies, including US President Barack Obama and Russia President Vladimir Putin, attended the retreat chaired by Xi. Yesterday, Najib, accompanied by Malaysia’s Special Envoy to China, Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting, Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainudin and Malaysia senior government officials, held a series of bilateral meetings. The bilateral meetings, among others, included deepening ties with China and Russia, as well as, exploring new and innovative ideas to further enhance cooperation among Apec...

NAYPYIDAW: ISSUES related to transport agreements involving the movement of trade vehicles between Asean countries are among the pending matters to be sorted out before the Dec 31 deadline to set up the Asean Economic Community (AEC). International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said Malaysia and Indonesia were among Asean countries yet to finalise their agreement to do away with import duties for liquor. “Malaysia and Indonesia have still not agreed to the proposal for zero-duties for liquor. Malaysia’s Treasury is still studying the matter as we have to consider factors, such as the need to collect duties for revenue,” he said on the sidelines of the 25th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit here yesterday. Despite these issues, Mustapa said Asean had implemented 84 per cent of the measures outlined under the AEC. These measures, he said, had been implemented in the years leading up to the implementation of the AEC. On average,...