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 17 ( Bernama) — Malaysia’s economic scorecard under the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint is currently at 83.9 per cent with 70 out of 436 variable measures still not being implemented, says Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamad. The minister said Malaysia was now ranked sixth among the ten ASEAN countries in AEC’s economic scorecard. He said he was confident to be able to implement at least half of the 70 unimplemented variables in six months’ time or middle of next year to improve the country’s ranking. “The variables, among others, fall under different category measures like trade in goods, elimination of non-tariff barriers, service liberalisation and non ratification of agreements and involving many sectors,” he said. Mustapa said this at a media briefing after chairing an inter-agency meetings on AEC with ministers in the capital, Monday. “Overall, ASEAN has implemented 82.1 per cent of...

DAVOS, Jan 24 (Bernama) — The 1Malaysia spirit shown by the Malaysian government, private sector and non-governmental organisation (NGO) delegates at the 45th World Economic Forum here have put the Malaysia brand squarely on the world stage. Although Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had to cut short his proceedings at the WEF this time to pay his last respects to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al-Saud, who passed away early on Friday, the other Malaysian delegates worked hard to ensure Malaysia’s objectives at WEF were met. International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said although it was his eighth WEF participation, the response to brand Malaysia this time around was extraordinary. “This time there was good cooperation among government, private sector and NGO delegates enabling us to achieve extraordinary success at the WEF,” he told Malaysian journalists after Friday’s ‘Malaysia Night’ featuring Malaysian cuisine and...

DAVOS (Switzerland), Jan 29 (Bernama) — Despite having his trip cut short, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak succeeded in his dual mission to promote both Malaysia and ASEAN as preferred investment destinations. And, reassured international investors convinced by the strong case Najib presented in highlighting Malaysia’s competiveness on its own merit and its strategic position within South East Asia (SEA), sounded out their long-term commitment to Malaysia and ASEAN. Although temperatures were below freezing point, Najib managed both in warming and winning the hearts of these investors who reaffirmed their commitment to continue to operate and expand in Malaysia such as Royal Vopak, Novartis and Lafarge. Najib, who is also the Finance Minister, took time to personally meet the corporate leaders of six companies — BAE, Lloyds, Royal Dutch Shell, General Electric, Nestle and Standard Chartered Group, which were looking at investing more in the country, as well as,...

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 (Bernama) — The government is expected to conclude its final Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) by the end of June this year, says International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. He said a few outstanding issues need to be resolved and talks on the proposed regulatory and investment treaty are still ongoing to ensure it is in Malaysia’s favour. “We are going to execute the final CBA study in the near term, collaborating with an international firm, on whether the TPPA is beneficial for the country or otherwise,” he told reporters after the ministry’s session with Heads of Foreign Missions here today. He said the CBA revolves around four issues, starting with the TPPA’s impact on the nation, including the country’s sovereignty and whether it would affect the weightage in delivering the government’s policies. The second is the TPPA’s impact on small and medium enterprises...