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...

BEIJING Nov 9 (Bernama) — The strong Malaysia-China relations, established 40 years ago, are expected to boost bilateral trade to US$160 billion by 2017. Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, said this was the first estimate made by the Special Monitoring Committee set up on Nov 4 comprising agencies under the ministry with the aim to coordinate and monitor economic activities with China. The committee, which aimed to strengthen Malaysia-China trade, was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing ties in May. Mustapa said the committee, which would be a one-stop platform to monitor bilateral trade activities, would be chaired by the prime minister and coordinated by the ministry. “The meeting to set up the committee in Kuala Lumpur last Tuesday was chaired by me. The Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to China, Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting is the deputy chairman,”...

Minister of International Trade and Industry, YB Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed attended the 26th APEC Ministerial Meeting held in Beijing today.  Ministers discussed APEC’s achievements in the past 25 years, including the challenges and opportunities for regional economic cooperation in the coming years. Minister Mustapa expressed Malaysia’s support for China’s initiatives to advance the process to undertake concrete actions towards the realisation of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) in a comprehensive and systematic manner.  In Qingdao earlier in May, Trade Ministers agreed that APEC would remain as a non-binding, voluntary forum and provide intellectual inputs into the FTAAP process.  They also agreed that FTAAP when agreed, will be pursued outside of APEC. FTAAP is envisaged to be a comprehensive FTA that is built on existing and on-going FTAs in the region such as the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and Regional Comprehensive Economic...

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,...

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 (Bernama) — All small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should take advantage of the RM11.4 billion in government incentives earmarked for their development in 2015, says Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. The recent Budget 2015 also outlined several measures to further facilitate the SME development and strengthen their long term competitiveness, he added. “Take advantage of this incentive to expand your businesses. In doing so, you will be able to further contribute to Malaysia’s economic growth,” he said in his speech, before presenting the Enterprise 50 Awards, here Friday. The Enterprise 50 is an annual awards programme organised by SME Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp) and Deloitte Malaysia, with other supporting sponsorships, to recognise the achievements of Malaysia’s enterprising SMEs. Mustapa said 2015 will also mark a very important milestone for Malaysia and its SME community as the Asean...

 

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 (Bernama) — Malaysia has the potential to achieve an economic growth of between 5.5 and six per cent as targeted for this year, said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. He said this was based on positive economic performance in the previous quarter as well as the prevailing economic stability. “Even though the gross domestic product (GDP) for the third quarter was less encouraging, the growth was still within the budget forecast. “We have anticipated that there would be a slight drop (in the third quarter this year) from 6.5 per cent in the second quarter as it was linked to the prevailing world economic conditions, but was still within the forecast. “Looking at the performance in the fourth quarter, we (the government) believe the forecast could be achieved. “This is based on investment, export and foreign trade performance that would enable Malaysia to be ahead of many countries,” Mustapa told...

KOTA BAHARU, Nov 16 (Bernama) — Malaysia’s 643,000 small medium enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs have been urged to work towards penetrating the Asean market next year. Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamad in making this call said they should take full advantage of Malaysia assuming the chairmanship of Asean in 2015 to more actively market their products in the region. He also cautioned that if they failed to do so, they would lose out on an excellent opportunity to enhance their business and quality of life. “SME entrepreneurs must break into the Asean market as the domestic scenario is too small with just 30 million people. But Asean has a 620 million population and imagine if, we can just sell soya or chilli sauce or fish crackers (keropok). “By breaking into foreign markets, their business will surely grow,” he added. Mustapa told reporters this after officiating the Kelantan Halal Products Transformation Programme 2015 here...

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 (Bernama) — The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has targeted to increase the small and medium enterprise (SME) market growth from 6.3 to 9.3 per cent under the SME Master Plan 2012-2020. Its minister, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the SME Master Plan 2012-2020 was aimed at contributing at least 41 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2020 from 33 per cent at present. He said the government would continue to expand financing options for SMEs by providing special funds and schemes either directly or through Bank Negara Malaysia. “I must stress that SMEs should strengthen their management skills, financial and learning capacities, and fully utilise the support given by the government,” he said at the launch of 27th Asian Credit Supplementation Institution Confederation (ACSIC) Conference 2014 from Nov 16 to 21 here Monday. His speech was read by MITI secretary-general Datuk Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria. Mustapa said under...