The international economic community may have been skeptical of ASEAN’s initiative to form a dynamic regional grouping. This is now changing. Today, world leaders, business and political, don’t need to be persuaded to be at ASEAN events such as the recent ASEAN Summit in Bali. Indeed, during the high-profile meeting, Denpasar’s Ngurah Rai airport was crammed with an impressive array of government and private jets, including the iconic Air Force One.   Unlike the European Union, ASEAN’s best years are ahead of it. Businessmen and political leaders are attracted by our joint commitment to forge an integrated market through the Asean Economic Community (AEC) by 2015 - bringing together a market of over 600 million consumers.   Malaysia, which is at the heart of ASEAN, has been at the forefront in championing this initiative. Indeed, we need to be realistic as a nation. With a population of 28 million (growing at 2%...

 

What are your thoughts on improving Malaysia’s trade position vis-a-vis major trade partners at a time when trade is more volatile? Bulbir Singh, Seremban Make it “Easier, Faster and Cheaper” to do business in Malaysia. That’s the role of the Government trade facilitiation both within the country and across borders. It’s about reducing and eliminating bureaucratic hurdles and simplifying procedures. Across borders, it’s about working with our trade partners to reduce and eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers. We do this bilaterally (through our Free Trade Agreements), regionally (through our participation in Asean, and Apec) as well as multilaterally through the World Trade Organisation. Expanding Malaysia’s share of global trade is Miti’s raison d’etre. Given the uncertainty and the challenging trading environment, we have to work harder. But Miti cannot do this alone. Private sector involvement is vital to the initiatives taken to increase...

 

Geneva, December 14 - YB Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry, met with His Excellency Mohamed Al Khatiri, Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry of Saudi Arabia, in Geneva at the sidelines of the World Trade Organisation  meeting.   At the discussion, both leaders agreed to take more active measures to strengthen trade and investment relations between the two countries.   In 2010, Malaysia’s total trade with Saudi Arabia increased by 38% to US$2,896 million from US$1,923 million in 2009. From January to October this year, total trade between the two countries reached US$3,454 million compared to US$2,205.44 million in the corresponding period in 2010.   At the bilateral meeting, YB Dato’ Sri Mustapa suggested that the Malaysia-Saudi Business Council organize more familiarization programmes for officials and businessmen from the two countries.  Dr Khatiri said that there are many opportunities for Malaysian companies to do...

 

Geneva, December 15 - Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry, met with Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of the Islamic Development Bank at the sidelines of 8th World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Geneva. The    Islamic    Development    Bank Group (IDB Group) is a South-South multilateral    development    financing institution comprising five entities, namely: (i) the Islamic Development Bank (IDB); (ii) the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI); (iii) the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC); (iv) the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD); and (v) the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC). IDB is based in Jeddah and was founded in 1975.   At the meeting, Dato’ Sri Mustapa discussed with the IDB President the programme details for a high-level forum that will bring together top business leaders from OIC member...

Overview of the Global Economic Scenario   ·    We are meeting at a time when the world economy is facing unprecedented challenges.   ·    Trade has grown more slowly than expected in recent months. World trade growth forecast for 2011 has been revised to 5.8%, down from an earlier estimate of 6.5%.   ·    In light of this challenging time, the greatest mistake countries can make is to look inwards and slide towards protectionism. There has been an increase in new trade restrictions. We hope that these measures are temporary in nature and that Governments demonstrate responsibility and commitment in dismantling them and discontinuing this negative trend.   ·    As a trade dependent country, Malaysia too is not immune to the negative impact of the economic and financial crisis. However, we believe that a conducive, facilitative, business and regulatory environment are critical factors that would help steer the...

Geneva, Dec 16 - Today Malaysia was given the privilege to chair the Plenary Session of the 8th WTO Ministerial Conference. Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry, believes that the choice of Malaysia to chair one of the plenary session is a clear recognition of Malaysia’s efforts to advance the WTO agenda.   The WTO was formed in 1995 to promote multilateral trade liberalisation and enforce global trade rules. Malaysia is a founding Member of the WTO. This Ministerial Conference is especially historic due to the accession of Russia, Samoa, Vanuatu and Montenegro.   Mustapa believes that Russia’s accession will open more opportunities for Malaysian exports to Russia and further strengthen bilateral economic relations between the Malaysia and Russia. The accession also shows that the WTO is a truly global institution dealing with trade.   Mustapa also took the opportunity to conduct a series of bilateral discussion with its...

TRADE Ministers from 153 World Trade Organisation (WTO) countries met in Geneva last week to discuss multilateral trade issues. But most will remember this as the year Russia concluded its 18-year marathon negotiations and joined the world organisation.Three other countries – Vanuatu, Samoa and Montenegro – also joined the WTO, bringing its coverage of world trade to 97%. This is all for the good because greater inclusiveness means more countries will come under the trading guidelines of a common multilateral trading system. For Malaysia, Russia’s accession would increase stability and openness in its domestic business environment and this will be good for our exporters. Our main exports to the Russian Federation are palm oil, electronics and electrical goods, iron and steel and rubber products.I had the privilege of chairing one of the plenary sessions as well as two working sessions – Trade and Development and the Doha Round of negotiations. I also chaired the Islamic...

Pemimpin-pemimpin dunia sekali lagi akan bersidang di Mesyuarat Tahunan Forum Ekonomi Dunia (WEF) 2012 yang bertemakan “The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models“, dengan memberi fokus terhadap menentukan hala tuju pertumbuhan ekonomi global, menghimpunkan sokongan stakeholder serta memacu ke arah merealisasikan wawasan masa depan. Menteri Perdagangan Antarabangsa dan Industri, Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed akan mengambil bahagian di dalam Mesyuarat Tahunan ini di Davos, Switzerland yang dijadualkan berlangsung dari 25 hingga 29 Januari 2012. Pada Mesyuarat Tahunan WEF ini, Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed akan mengambil bahagian sebagai pemimpin perbincangan, tetamu khas, dan penyumbang dalam beberapa sesi perkongsian awam, swasta dan industri. Antara sesi yang terlibat adalah: ‘Is This Truly the Asian Century?’, ‘Defining the Imperatives for 2012’ dan  ‘Manufacturing for Growth‘. Di samping menghadiri sesi-sesi WEF yang telah...

Kuala Lumpur, 20 January 2012 - World leaders will once again be brought together under the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (WEF) 2012 themed “The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models”, where focus will be on defining the future direction for global economic growth, gathering the support of stakeholders and driving the motion towards realising the future vision. Minister of International Trade and Industry Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed will be participating in this Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland scheduled from 25 to 29 January 2012.   At the WEF Annual Meeting, Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed will be participating as discussion leader, special guest, and contributor respectively in a number of public, private and industry partnership sessions. These include sessions on: ‘Is This Truly the Asian Century?’, ‘Defining the Imperatives for 2012’, and ‘Manufacturing for Growth’.   In addition to these WEF scheduled sessions, Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed will...

Davos, 26 Jan - Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Menteri Perdagangan Antarabangsa dan Industri menjadi hos dialog pagi Malaysia kepada 20 ahli korporat, pemimpin kerajaan dan media yang telah diadakan di samping mesyuarat Forum Ekonomi Dunia (WEF) 2012 di Davos. Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, Pengarah Urusan Khazanah Nasional turut menyampaikan ucapan semasa dialog tersebut. Dalam ucapannya, Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed menekankan mengenai daya tarikan Malaysia sebagai destinasi pelaburan utama kepada pelabur asing, khususnya bagi syarikat-syarikat berteknologi tinggi dan berasaskan pengetahuan. Beliau juga menyatakan bahawa persekitaran perniagaan yang kondusif di Malaysia telah melahirkan banyak syarikat berdaya saing di peringkat global seperti Petronas, Air Asia, Axiata, Maybank, CIMB dan Integrated Healthcare Berhad. Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed turut menerangkan mengenai transformasi yang sedang dilalui Malaysia yang akan menjadikan negara ini lebih terbuka untuk...