KUALA LUMPUR: Bilateral trade between Malaysia and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries is expected to rise by 19% by the end of this year and by 25% next year, said International Trade and Industry (Miti) Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

“Today, OIC countries’ share of global merchandise trade is still low. We are still trading with other countries (non-Islamic nations).

“Because of this, Malaysia has successfully signed a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with Turkey and Pakistan as a catalyst to boost bilateral trade between the Muslim nations,” he said.

He said Muslim nations had much to offer to the world, as they always had, from knowledge and resources to culture and products.

“And now, the Muslim world also has big opportunity in the halal economy and in trade and investment in halal goods and services.

“This opportunity should not be missed by OIC nations as many non-Islamic nations are already seeing the profit in this industry...

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 (Bernama) — The cement industry is expected to see reasonable growth in the next two to three years on the support from the major government infrastructure development projects.

Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, said the construction sector recorded between five and six per cent growth for the past few years.

“Although demand for high-end residential units had softened, the government is continuously pushing to spur construction in the form of affordable housing, the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development and Mass Rapid Transit projects, among others,” he told reporters at the 50th Anniversary of Cement and Concrete Association (C&CA) here Wednesday.

He said these projects were the major consumers of cement.

Mustapa said the prospects of the industry would continue to be good for cement and construction sector as a whole.

Meanwhile, C&CA Chairwoman, Datuk Yeoh Soo Keng, said the association hoped the...

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 (Bernama) –The Ministry of International Trade and Industry hopes the Budget 2016 will help boost economic growth and trade figures.

This is amid the uncertainty in the global market due to the fall in the oil prices and weakening of the ringgit, said its Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

The budget will be tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in Parliament tomorrow.

Mustapa was also hopeful that more focus would be given to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) - the backbone of the country’s economy - in the budget with new plans and strategies to enhance exports.

Mustapa said this was also due to the competition the country is facing.

He told reporters this during a briefing and memorandum of understanding signing ceremony.

In an effort to encourage more Malaysian food manufacturers obtain the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP)certification, the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) is collaborating...

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 (Bernama) — Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) expects total trade between Malaysia and China to increase to US$110 billion (US$1 = RM4.17) this year from US$102 billion last year.

Matrade Chief Executive Officer Datuk Dzulkifli Mahmud said the increase would be driven by a commitment made by both nations to increase two-way trade to US$160 billion by 2017.

“Despite the current economic challenges, China remains our important trading partner whereby during the first eight months of this year, our trade with China increased 9.6 per cent to RM147.55 billion.

“Our exports to China rose 9.3 per cent to RM65.17 billion while imports rose 9.8 per cent to RM82.18 billion,” he told a press conference after officiating the “Leveraging on Renminbi to Enhance Exports to China” seminar here Monday.

The half-day seminar was organised by Matrade as part of its effort to encourage local companies to use renminbi in their trade with China...

KUALA LUMPUR: Perbadanan Pembangunan Perdagangan Luar Malaysia (Matrade) menyasarkan untuk meningkat eksport barangan pertanian ke Turki tahun ini, diperkukuh oleh permintaan yang semakin meningkat ke atas buah-buahan tropika di negara itu.

Pesuruhjaya Perdagangan Matrade di Istanbul Idzham Abd Hamid berkata buah-buahan tropika seperti nanas, belimbing dan buah naga, mendapat permintaan tinggi di Turki.

Istanbul kini mengimport sebagaian besar buah-buahan tropika dari Belanda.

“Kita patut merebut peluang untuk mengeksport (lebih banyak) buah-buahan tropika kita ke negara itu,” katanya kepada pemberita di uar seminar Perjanjian Perdagangan Bebas (FTA) Malaysia-Turki, di sini, Rabu.

Eksport utama Malaysia ke Turki bagi tempoh Januari hingga Julai 2015 terdiri daripada barangan pertanian, dengan dagangan bagi segmen itu bernilai  RM386 juta, diikuti barangan pembuatan (RM1.2 bilion) dan barangan perlombongan  (RM3.3 juta).

Seminar bertema ‘Memanfaatkan FTA...

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 (Bernama) — Halal Ingredients Asia 2015, touted as Asia’s first event platform for halal food and personal care ingredients industry, opened its doors on Monday.

The three-day event represents the region’s best gathering and market place for halal ingredient professionals and industry players in providing thought leadership to further accelerate and enhance the development of the industry.

Halal Development Corp (HDC) Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Seri Jamil Bidin, said the event would focus on several components to give a whole new perspective and opportunities via a conference, exhibition and business-to-business (B2B) networking.

“It will also enhance opportunities for trade and investment as well as for local halal ingredient players to be exposed to international buyers,” he told the media on the sidelines of the event opened by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi here.

Jamil said the manufacturers, distributors and...

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18: The success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is crucial for ASEAN to be truly integrated, says Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Lee Chee Leong.

Lee said resilient SMEs should start to have a global mind-set.

“They should explore opportunities from liberalisation under the ASEAN Economic Community and expand their trade and investments,” he said at the launch of I-Score credit risk management tool.

The I-Score is co-developed by Rating Agency Malaysia Credit Info Sdn Bhd (RAMCI) with global information services company, Experian plc.

The tool, designed for financial institutions, business corporations and consumers, provides a comprehensive credit report ranking consumers, business partners and potential investors for credit risk.

Lee said SMEs could now use the tool to assess the strategies for their businesses if they intended to expand them.

“This will help address the challenges faced by SMEs to obtain...

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (Bernama) — The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has teamed up with Singapore Corp Enterprise (SCE) to conduct a talent development programme for officers from MITI and its agencies.

Deputy Minister, Datuk Ahmad Maslan, said the eight-month programme, from September 2015 to April 2016, was the first of its kind for Malaysian civil service and would involve 122 officers.

“The platform, called the Economic Policy Leaders programme, would enhance the professionalism and charisma of the officers,” he said after the signing of the memorandum of understanding between MITI Deputy Secretary-General, Datuk Jayasiri Jayasena, and SCE Chief Executive Officer, Kong Wy Mun, here today.

Also present was Temasek Foundation Chief Executive Officer, Benedict Cheong.

Ahmad said the programme would be held in Malaysia and will be followed by a learning visit to Iskandar, Johor and Singapore.

The cost of approximately RM750,927 would be equally funded...

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 10 (Bernama) — Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in Malaysia from its ASEAN peers is expected to gain momentum with the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) becoming a reality from Dec 31 this year.

Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the sustained removal of barriers among the 10-member grouping, had led to an expansion in intra-ASEAN trade and investments, from US$1.22 billion in 2000 to US$24.4 billion in 2014.

“This accounts for 17.9 per cent of the total US$136.2 billion FDI inflows into the region last year,” he told reporters at the AEC Open Day here Monday.

Mustapa said similarly, intra-ASEAN trade accounted for 24 per cent of the total ASEAN trade or US$608 billion.

Meanwhile, ASEAN’s per capita income now stands at US$4,130 with intra-ASEAN trade expected to grow to 30 per cent by 2020.

He also said being the ASEAN Chairman this year, Malaysia wants to prepare local small and medium enterprises...