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...

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 (Bernama) — The ministries of International Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI) and Human Resource will look into the allegations on forced labour the electrical and electronics (E&E) sector in Malaysia. According to news report, the US Labour Department would put Malaysian on the “International Ranking on Forced Labour” watch list in December on findings from a global non-governmental organisation, Verite, on labour issues in the sector. The US Labour Department-funded Verite highlighted several issues regarding employment in the country’s E&E sector including deceptive recruitment, poor living conditions and passport retention. “This could be on misinformation. We will have constant engagements with the relevant authorities regarding the issues. “It is important to have correct information and that should be corrected accordingly,” International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed told Bernama Tuesday. “Sometimes, there...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia recorded a 9.1. per cent growth in investments in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2013. International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the total RM172.3 billion investments were in services, primary and manufacturing sectors. The services sector was the largest in terms of investments, number of projects and enployment opportunities. The real estate sub sector attracted 56.4 per cent of investments in the servives sector. “The manufacturing sector also did well, recording the highest for the first nine months,” he told a media briefing today. Malaysia recorded RM63.5 billion for the period of January to September. Mustapa said the leading sources of foreign investments were Japan. Singapore, China, Germany and Korea.  

DHAKA 13 Jan. – Malaysia dan Bangladesh sepakat untuk meneruskan rundingan Perjanjian Perdagangan Bebas (FTA) yang tertangguh sejak lima tahun lalu dalam usaha meningkat hubungan dagangan antara kedua-dua negara. Kesepakatan itu dicapai oleh Menteri Perdagangan Antarabangsa dan Industri, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed dalam pertemuan beliau dengan Menteri Perdagangan Bangladesh, Tofail Ahmed. Dalam pertemuan itu, Mustapa yang dalam misi pelaburan dan perdagangan ke negara ini turut disertai oleh Pesuruhjaya Tinggi Malaysia ke Bangladesh, Norlin Othman dan Timbalan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Matrade, Datuk Dzulkifli Mahmud. Mustapa berkata, kedua-dua belah pihak bersetuju supaya suruhanjaya bersama kedua-dua negara mengadakan perbincangan lanjut mengenai perkara tersebut di Kuala Lumpur pada Mac ini. “Kita telah memulakan rundingan lima tahun lalu berhubung kemungkinan mengadakan FTA antara Bangladesh dan Malaysia, namun tidak banyak kemajuan sejak beberapa tahun...

AVOS (Switzerland), Jan 20 (Bernama) — “More Opportunities”. That is what Malaysia is set to offer at the upcoming World Economic Forum (WEF), which starts tomorrow until Jan 24. Whether it is business opportunities or ease of doing business in Malaysia, there are plenty to offer on the table amid concerns by economists around the world of a very challenging first half, this year. All preparations to hold the 45th annual forum at the world’s famous ski resort of Davos-Klosters in Switzerland are in place despite the shivering cold weather. With this year’s forum themed, “The New Global Context”, more than 40 head of states and government, together with 2,500 business leaders, will convene for five days here to discuss current global economic landscapes and strategies, moving forward. Eye-catching banners reading “Malaysia Doing Business. Building Friendships” and “More Opportunities”, placed at strategic locations around the Panorama Hotel, can be spotted...

KUALA LUMPUR: China’s decelerating growth may be a hard landing for exporters, but trade will continue to grow with hard work, says Minister of International Trade and Industry (Miti) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. He said China, the foremost trade partner for 120 countries in the world, grew by 7.4 per cent last year, and is very competitive to all exporters vying to gain a market share in that country. “As we work hard to promote our exports, many others will come up with their own initiatives to gain from the Chinese market. “As such, we hope our people will be more aggressive and continue to do well in the big China market,” he added. Mustapa also expressed the view that Malaysia can overcome the turbulence in the global economy as it is more diversified, with China making up only 13 per cent of exports, while having other export partners as Northeast Asia, the US , Japan, South Korea and the European Union. Speaking to reporters at the launch of the “My Asean...

Malaysia’s total trade went up by 5.9 per cent to RM1.5 trillion last year from RM1.4 trillion in 2013. Deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the export value increased by 6.4 per cent from RM46.1 billion to RM766.1 billion, while import value also increased by 5.3 per cent from RM34.3 billion to RM683 billion. “Strong export growth has contributed to the trade surplus for 17th consecutive year. The trade surplus for 2014 indicated an increase of 16.6 per cent, an improvement compared to negative growth (-22.8 per cent) recorded in 2012 and (-25.7 per cent) in 2013. “The manufacturing sector has contributed RM587.3 billion, an increase of 7.1 per cent from RM39.1 billion,” he said when addressing industry players in the state during a meet the people session on Thursday. Muhyiddin said a total of 3,966 projects were approved in the country with a capital investment worth RM259.9 billion from 2010 to September 2014, adding these investment projects had...

GEORGE TOWN (Feb 28): Penang moved up one notch to the third spot with the highest number of approved investments in the country last year, after Johor and Sarawak. Penang approved local and foreign investments totalling RM8.2 billion in 2014, a 109% jump from the previous year. Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state approved foreign investments amounting to RM5.1 billion and RM3.04 billion in  domestic investments last year. “In 2013, our total proposed capital investment was RM3.9 billion and we were ranked No. 4,” he told a news conference to announce the investment figures released by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) yesterday. “This (2014) is good results, although it is more important that we receive quality investments. “It should not be typical industries but those that can add value, be high-tech and are knowledge intensive,” Lim said. He added that the investments in Penang were widely distributed between local and foreign businesses...