The international economic community may have been skeptical of ASEAN’s initiative to form a dynamic regional grouping. This is now changing. Today, world leaders, business and political, don’t need to be persuaded to be at ASEAN events such as the recent ASEAN Summit in Bali. Indeed, during the high-profile meeting, Denpasar’s Ngurah Rai airport was crammed with an impressive array of government and private jets, including the iconic Air Force One.   Unlike the European Union, ASEAN’s best years are ahead of it. Businessmen and political leaders are attracted by our joint commitment to forge an integrated market through the Asean Economic Community (AEC) by 2015 - bringing together a market of over 600 million consumers.   Malaysia, which is at the heart of ASEAN, has been at the forefront in championing this initiative. Indeed, we need to be realistic as a nation. With a population of 28 million (growing at 2%...

Date     :19 December 2011 (8.30 am – 4.30 pm) Venue   : Matrade Exhibition & Convention Centre (MECC) URL      : http://bit.ly/tH9j85

 

 

The 10th negotiating round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership was held from 5-9 December 2011 Kuala Lumpur. The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the way forward in light of the recent instructions from the TPP Leaders to redouble their efforts in 2012 to conclude negotiations.    The KL negotiations was a mini round and only selected negotiating Groups met, including Investment, Services, Rules of Origin and Intellectual Property Rights. There were also market access negotiations on goods, agriculture and textiles. Close to 200 participants attended this round.   Progress was achieved in all the Working Groups, as negotiators narrowed the differences in the text and market access negotiations.   All 20 Working Groups will be developing a detailed work programme, including milestones for progress, inter-sessional activities and other steps needed for concluding work in their respective areas.   Plans are underway to hold the 11th round in Australia in March 2012....

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 business in Saudi Arabia,...

 

What are your thoughts on improving Malaysia’s trade position vis-a-vis major trade partners at a time when trade is more volatile? Bulbir Singh, Seremban Make it “Easier, Faster and Cheaper” to do business in Malaysia. That’s the role of the Government trade facilitiation both within the country and across borders. It’s about reducing and eliminating bureaucratic hurdles and simplifying procedures. Across borders, it’s about working with our trade partners to reduce and eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers. We do this bilaterally (through our Free Trade Agreements), regionally (through our participation in Asean, and Apec) as well as multilaterally through the World Trade Organisation. Expanding Malaysia’s share of global trade is Miti’s raison d’etre. Given the uncertainty and the challenging trading environment, we have to work harder. But Miti cannot do this alone. Private sector involvement is vital to the initiatives taken to increase...

 

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...

Geneva, Dec 16 - Today Malaysia was given the privilege to chair the Plenary Session of the 8th WTO Ministerial Conference. Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry, believes that the choice of Malaysia to chair one of the plenary session is a clear recognition of Malaysia’s efforts to advance the WTO agenda.   The WTO was formed in 1995 to promote multilateral trade liberalisation and enforce global trade rules. Malaysia is a founding Member of the WTO. This Ministerial Conference is especially historic due to the accession of Russia, Samoa, Vanuatu and Montenegro.   Mustapa believes that Russia’s accession will open more opportunities for Malaysian exports to Russia and further strengthen bilateral economic relations between the Malaysia and Russia. The accession also shows that the WTO is a truly global institution dealing with trade.   Mustapa also took the opportunity to conduct a series of bilateral discussion with its...

THE services sector is overtaking manufacturing as the main contributor to economic growth. This will have vast implications on where people are going to find work and what skills they will need to get employed.  The government’s growth target is very clear: To become a developed nation by 2020. Using a World Bank definition, that means having a per capita income of RM49,500 (US$15,000) by the end of the decade. The per capita income level in 2010 was RM23,100 (US$7,000).This is an ambitious target and requires gross domestic product (GDP) growth of at least 7 per cent per year.  Historically, the country’s growth had been led by manufacturing. But when the government reviewed its economic policy last year, it realised that this may not be the case for much longer.  For two reasons. In developed economies, the services sector is usually the biggest contributor to economic output.  Last year,...