Geneva, December 14 - YB Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry, met with His Excellency Mohamed Al Khatiri, Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry of Saudi Arabia, in Geneva at the sidelines of the World Trade Organisation  meeting.   At the discussion, both leaders agreed to take more active measures to strengthen trade and investment relations between the two countries.   In 2010, Malaysia’s total trade with Saudi Arabia increased by 38% to US$2,896 million from US$1,923 million in 2009. From January to October this year, total trade between the two countries reached US$3,454 million compared to US$2,205.44 million in the corresponding period in 2010.   At the bilateral meeting, YB Dato’ Sri Mustapa suggested that the Malaysia-Saudi Business Council organize more familiarization programmes for officials and businessmen from the two countries.  Dr Khatiri said that there are many opportunities for Malaysian companies to do...

 

Geneva, December 15 - Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry, met with Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of the Islamic Development Bank at the sidelines of 8th World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Geneva. The    Islamic    Development    Bank Group (IDB Group) is a South-South multilateral    development    financing institution comprising five entities, namely: (i) the Islamic Development Bank (IDB); (ii) the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI); (iii) the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC); (iv) the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD); and (v) the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC). IDB is based in Jeddah and was founded in 1975.   At the meeting, Dato’ Sri Mustapa discussed with the IDB President the programme details for a high-level forum that will bring together top business leaders from OIC member...

Overview of the Global Economic Scenario   ·    We are meeting at a time when the world economy is facing unprecedented challenges.   ·    Trade has grown more slowly than expected in recent months. World trade growth forecast for 2011 has been revised to 5.8%, down from an earlier estimate of 6.5%.   ·    In light of this challenging time, the greatest mistake countries can make is to look inwards and slide towards protectionism. There has been an increase in new trade restrictions. We hope that these measures are temporary in nature and that Governments demonstrate responsibility and commitment in dismantling them and discontinuing this negative trend.   ·    As a trade dependent country, Malaysia too is not immune to the negative impact of the economic and financial crisis. However, we believe that a conducive, facilitative, business and regulatory environment are critical factors that would help steer the...

TRADE Ministers from 153 World Trade Organisation (WTO) countries met in Geneva last week to discuss multilateral trade issues. But most will remember this as the year Russia concluded its 18-year marathon negotiations and joined the world organisation.Three other countries – Vanuatu, Samoa and Montenegro – also joined the WTO, bringing its coverage of world trade to 97%. This is all for the good because greater inclusiveness means more countries will come under the trading guidelines of a common multilateral trading system. For Malaysia, Russia’s accession would increase stability and openness in its domestic business environment and this will be good for our exporters. Our main exports to the Russian Federation are palm oil, electronics and electrical goods, iron and steel and rubber products.I had the privilege of chairing one of the plenary sessions as well as two working sessions – Trade and Development and the Doha Round of negotiations. I also chaired the Islamic...

Pemimpin-pemimpin dunia sekali lagi akan bersidang di Mesyuarat Tahunan Forum Ekonomi Dunia (WEF) 2012 yang bertemakan “The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models“, dengan memberi fokus terhadap menentukan hala tuju pertumbuhan ekonomi global, menghimpunkan sokongan stakeholder serta memacu ke arah merealisasikan wawasan masa depan. Menteri Perdagangan Antarabangsa dan Industri, Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed akan mengambil bahagian di dalam Mesyuarat Tahunan ini di Davos, Switzerland yang dijadualkan berlangsung dari 25 hingga 29 Januari 2012. Pada Mesyuarat Tahunan WEF ini, Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed akan mengambil bahagian sebagai pemimpin perbincangan, tetamu khas, dan penyumbang dalam beberapa sesi perkongsian awam, swasta dan industri. Antara sesi yang terlibat adalah: ‘Is This Truly the Asian Century?’, ‘Defining the Imperatives for 2012’ dan  ‘Manufacturing for Growth‘. Di samping menghadiri sesi-sesi WEF yang telah...

Davos, 26 Jan - Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Menteri Perdagangan Antarabangsa dan Industri menjadi hos dialog pagi Malaysia kepada 20 ahli korporat, pemimpin kerajaan dan media yang telah diadakan di samping mesyuarat Forum Ekonomi Dunia (WEF) 2012 di Davos. Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, Pengarah Urusan Khazanah Nasional turut menyampaikan ucapan semasa dialog tersebut. Dalam ucapannya, Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed menekankan mengenai daya tarikan Malaysia sebagai destinasi pelaburan utama kepada pelabur asing, khususnya bagi syarikat-syarikat berteknologi tinggi dan berasaskan pengetahuan. Beliau juga menyatakan bahawa persekitaran perniagaan yang kondusif di Malaysia telah melahirkan banyak syarikat berdaya saing di peringkat global seperti Petronas, Air Asia, Axiata, Maybank, CIMB dan Integrated Healthcare Berhad. Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed turut menerangkan mengenai transformasi yang sedang dilalui Malaysia yang akan menjadikan negara ini lebih terbuka untuk...

26 January 2012, Davos

Davos, 26 Jan – Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry, hosted a Malaysian breakfast dialogue for 20 global corporate, government and media leaders at the sidelines of the World Economic Forum 2012 in Davos. Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, Managing Director of Khazanah Nasional, also spoke at the breakfast meeting. In his remarks, Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed emphasised the attractiveness of Malaysia as a premier investment destination for foreign investors, particularly for companies that are of high technology and knowledge driven. He added that the conducive business environment of Malaysia has given birth to many globally competitive companies such as Petronas, Air Asia, Axiata, Maybank, CIMB and Integrated Healthcare Berhad. Mustapa stressed that Malaysia is going through a very exciting transformation which will make the country even more open for business. In spite of the emergence of regional and global companies...

 

 

The 16th Malaysia-Australia Joint Trade Committee (JTC) Meeting was held in Kuala Lumpur on 31 January 2012. The JTC Meeting was co-chaired by the Hon. Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Malaysia’s Minister of International Trade and Industry, and the Hon. Dr. Craig Emerson MP, Minister for Trade Australia. Members of the Malaysia-Australia Business Council (MABC) and the Australia Malaysia Business Council (AMBC) also attended the meeting. The 16th JTC meeting discussed a number of issues ranging from Australia’s food labelling legislation, logging regulation and investment issues related to mining and resource processing as well as financial services. The meeting reviewed the progress of the ongoing close cooperation between Malaysia and Australia on customs matters, Islamic finance, clean energy and green technology as well as the automotive sector. In terms of new collaboration proposals, it was agreed that Malaysia and Australia to pursue cooperation in the areas...

This is an excerpt of the opening address delivered by International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed at the United Kingdom & Eire Council of Malaysian Students’ Projek Amanat Negara Conference in London on Saturday WHEN  Datuk Seri Najib  Razak assumed office as the sixth prime minister, he recognised that the days of “business as usual” for the government of Malaysia were over. Malaysians were now expecting more from their government. They wanted higher standards of transparency and accountability, as well as better governance and efficiency. The government had to become more responsive to the people’s needs.Clearly, there was a need to redefine the role of government and how it carried out its responsibilities to meet the ever-increasing expectations. It must be said that Najib embodied this transformation in the way he went about his business. He immediately went about engaging the newly-resurgent social media by organising events based...

Passenger cars prices in Malaysia have always been perceived to be higher than those sold in the neighbouring ASEAN countries. “Undeniably, at a first glance of the sales prices comparisons of popular models the claim appeared to be true, except when compared to prices in Singapore, said Madani Sahari, CEO of the Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI)” Madani further elaborated that MAI has done comparative analysis of these popular models within the ASEAN countries. The price of Honda City and Toyota Vios of the 1500cc segment sold in Thailand are the cheapest in ASEAN, lower by 40% on average of the sales price in Malaysia. Similarly, the prices of these two marques in Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam are also lower by 32%, 2% and 1.8% on average respectively. Within the 1800 cc segment, the price of Honda Civic cheapest in Philippines, lower by 43%, while the prices of the model in Thailand and Vietnam are lower by 35% and 5% on average respectively. However, the price of...