INITIATION OF ANTI-DUMPING INVESTIGATION CONCERNING IMPORTS OF POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE ORIGINATING IN OR EXPORTED FROM THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA On 19 May 2014, the Government of Malaysia has received a petition from a domestic producer requesting imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports of polyethylene terephthalate. The petitioner alleges that imports of polyethylene terephthalate originating in or exported from the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Indonesia and the Republic of Korea are being dumped into Malaysia at a price much lower than the price in the domestic market of the alleged countries. The petitioner claims that this is causing material injury to the domestic industry in Malaysia. The petitioner further claims that the imports from the alleged countries have increased in terms of absolute quantity.  As a result, the petitioner had suffered material injury, among others, price...

INITIATION OF ANTI-DUMPING INVESTIGATION CONCERNING IMPORTS OF HOT-ROLLED COILS (HRC), CHEQUERED COILS AND PICKLED & OILED COILS (P&O COILS) ORIGINATING IN OR EXPORTED FROM THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA On 20 May 2014, the Government of Malaysia received a petition from a domestic producer requesting an imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports of HRC, Chequered Coils and P&O Coils. The petitioner alleges that imports of HRC, Chequered Coils and P&O Coils originating in or exported from the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Indonesia and the Republic of Korea are being dumped into Malaysia at a price much lower than the price in the domestic market of the alleged countries. The petitioner claims that this has caused material injury to the domestic industry in Malaysia. The petitioner further claims that the imports from the alleged countries have increased in terms of absolute quantity.  As a result, the...

26 June 2014, Kuala Lumpur - YB Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) led a dialogue session with 16 companies in Perlis, organised by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), today.  YB Minister was accompanied by YBhg. Dato’ Azman Mahmud, Chief Executive Officer of MIDA, and other officials from MITI and MIDA. According to Dato’ Sri Mustapa, “There are many opportunities in Perlis that investors should be made to be aware of. All that we need to do is to position Perlis as a state of opportunity.  The State is mainly driven by the agriculture sector.  Notwithstanding this, it is heartening to note that approved investments in the manufacturing sector for 2013 in Perlis have increased substantially by nine times the figures achieved in the year of 2011, a testimony that this state is becoming an increasingly competitive destination for investments.” “We are actively working with all stakeholders including the...

SPANISH businesses are keen to invest in Malaysia and have expressed keen interest in broad sectors, including the high-speed rail project linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said Spain’s investments in Malaysia, although small, still totalled a significant US$2.5 billion (RM8.2 billion) through Acerinox and Tecnicas Reunidas. This, he said, had lifted Spain’s profile in Malaysia.“The flow of investments from Spain marks a diversification in the volume of quality investments we are targeting for in Europe,” he said at a forum on investment opportunities, here, yesterday.Germany, Britain and France are traditionally the main sources of foreign direct investments to Malaysia.For the first half of this year, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority has approved US$64.8 million in investments from manufacturing projects.Mustapa is leading the biggest high-powered delegation to Spain, which included...

Apec’s 25th anniversary is a good time to assess both the challenges and the opportunities faced by the organisation.

 

TWENTY-ONE leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Coopera-tion (Apec) economies meet in Beijing next week.

It will mark the organisation’s 25th anniversary.

So what has Apec got to show the world besides growing from 12-member economies in 1989 to 21 today?

How effective has it been in driving trade and investment?

What can these high-level meetings actually do to improve the global economy?

If one asks whether Apec’s main goal – easing the barriers to doing business in the region – has been achieved, the answer has to be yes. Here’s why.

To be sure, it’s had a head start. First, it accounts for 40% of the world’s population (2.8 billion people), 47% of global trade and 54% of the world’s real Gross Domestic Product in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.

Has it succeeded in easing tariff barriers? Again, yes.

When Apec was established in...

PETALING JAYA, Nov 4 (Bernama) — The open market under the Asean Economic Community (AEC) should be viewed as an opportunity, rather than a threat, says Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. He also debunked fears among sections of the younger generation that the AEC with its free movement of professionals might rob them of employment opportunities. “The perception and fear is unfounded, although we have signed mutual recognition agreements for the free movement of professionals like accountants, engineers, surveyors, doctors, architects and lawyers, subject to domestic rules and regulations, and not totally unregulated,” he said. He said Malaysia has been a net capital exporter for the last four to five years with many Malaysian companies investing large amounts of money abroad. “This has also opened up opportunities for young professional to venture abroad,” he added. He told reporters this after officiating the closing of the...

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 (Bernama) — The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) is seeking to enhance collaborative research in the semi-conductor industry by looking at opportunities to cooperate with the US-based Semi-conductor Research Corporation (SRC). Mida’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer Datuk Phang Ah Tong said in many countries, particularly developing nations, a mismatch between the industry and universities existed in terms of relevancy to graduates produced as well as research undertaken. He said the “irrelevant graduates and research” was a waste, as well as a duplication of resources, with Malaysia not excluded from the problem. Mida, as such, is exploring the possibility of working together with the SRC to enhance and strengthen collaboration between universities and industries in Malaysia, he told reporters at an interview session with the SRC here today. The SRC is the world’s leading technology research company. It was established in 1982 as a...

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 (Bernama) — Total approved investments in the electrical and electronics (E&E) sector is expected to reach RM10 billion this year on the back of the resilient global economic outlook.

 

International Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said from January-July this year, approved investments in the E&E sector reached RM8.4 billion with 57 approved projects, surpassing the 2014 target of RM5.1 billion.

“Investments are encouraging this year compared with last year…this is a good sign that shows that our economy is expanding.

“The economic growth forecast of between 5.5 per cent and 6.0 per cent this year is very relevant given our exports and investments growth so far,” he said in a media briefing on the E&E sector here today.

Some of the high-impact projects approved include a diversification project in wafer fabrication involving an investment of RM3.2 billion and an expansion project estimated at RM1.5 billion for a high-end...

BEIJING, Nov 8 (Bernama) — Malaysia has expressed support for China’s initiatives to advance the process of taking concrete actions towards the realisation of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) in a comprehensive and systematic manner. As a middle-income economy, Malaysia has enjoyed the benefits brought about by APEC initiatives in addressing the middle-income trap and pushing economies to achieve higher income status, said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. The FTAAP would provide an open market to the nations within the APEC region, including small countries like Malaysia, which has benefited from its technical assistance and capacity building programmes, as well as sharing of best practices among economies, he said. “It is good for our country’s exports and imports, although there will be some losers in the short term, but it will increase the competitiveness in our country and bring long-term benefits,” he said,...