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...

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...

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...

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 24 (Bernama) — The Belgian Economic Mission to Malaysia has received encouraging response to its sectoral seminars held, Monday to introduce the country’s advancement and availability of technologies. Belgium Ambassador to Malaysia, Daniel Dargent said the seminars included on clean technology, agro-food and healthcare sectors. “At the same time, official meetings with Malaysian ministers were also held in the presence of Princess Astrid to enhance bilateral relationship, particularly in economic and commercial sectors,” Dargent told BERNAMA during the Belgium Economic Mission to Malaysia seminar in Kuala Lumpur. Ministers who attended the meeting were International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed; Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan; and Deputy Minister of Health Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya. Commenting on the halal cooperation and partnership, Dargent said apart from venturing into the...

CYBERJAYA, Dec 16 (Bernama) — To remain relevant in the automotive industry in Malaysia and globally, local automotive players have no other alternatives but to strive and achieve the highest possible competitive ability, said Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. He said Malaysia’s automotive industry is now facing tremendous challenges due to the continuous changes in market trends, high demand for automotive safety regulations, pressure on environmental policies and demand for lower cost of mobility. “More critical is the stiff competition between automotive manufacturers in capturing market dominance. It is quite clear that with a combination of successful partnerships between the government and industry, the benefits are mutually exclusive. “I would like to call upon the industry players to support all training endeavours especially in providing on-the-job training for our new graduate and undergraduate students,” he said in his...

KOTA BAHARU, Dec 14 (Bernama) — The government is conducting a comprehensive study on the ringgit’s depreciation, says International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. He said the study was jointly undertaken by his ministry, Bank Negara Malaysia, Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister’s Department to ascertain the impact of the falling ringgit on the economy. “We have experts in the government, Bank Negara Malaysia, MOF and EPU who are carrying out studies to determine if the depreciating ringgit is good or bad and if it has a positive effect on the economy,” he told reporters after presenting prizes and BMW cars to winners of a contest organised by Bank Islam Malaysia here, Sunday. Mustapa said as a trading nation, the depreciation of the ringgit would definitely have an effect and it was necessary for the study to determine its impact on imports, exports, inflation, manpower and others. “Ups and down in...