By Datuk Mustapa Mohamed

 

YB Dato Sri’ Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry Malaysia and the Hon Dr. Craig Emerson MP, Australian Minister for Trade and Competitiveness, signed the Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement (MAFTA) today in Kuala Lumpur. The Free Trade Agreement will come into force on the 1st of January 2013. The signing of the MAFTA, which complements the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, marks another important milestone in Malaysia and Australia economic relations. The Malaysian trade minister is confident that this agreement will benefit both countries. “I am happy to note that Malaysia will benefit from this Agreement, particularly in the area of goods where this is the first FTA Malaysia is signing that will grant our exporters duty free treatment for 100% of our goods as soon as the Agreement comes into force on 1st January 2013. Australian exporters to Malaysia will also be able to immediately enjoy significantly reduced tariffs for...

The Geneva based non-profit foundation, World Economic Forum, today released the fourth edition of its Global Enabling Trade Report 2012entitled “Reducing Supply Chain Barriers”. The report measures the extent to which individual economies have developed institutions, policies and services facilitating free flow of goods over borders to destinations. A total of 132 countries were surveyed for the 2012 Report compared to 125 in 2010. In this report, Malaysia strengthens its overall enabling trade performance by 6 positions and moves up to 24thposition out of 132 economies (2010: 30 out of 125 economies). This ranking places Malaysia among the top 20% of global trade enabled economies. Among Asia Pacific countries, Malaysia improved two positions, ranking 6th among 21 Asia Pacific countries, ahead of Taiwan (7th) and Korea (8th). The top 10 most trade enabled economies are Singapore, Hong Kong, Denmark, Sweden, New Zealand, Finland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada and...

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has recently been made aware of the fact that an unknown party has been holding itself out as a government agent to purchase products for the Ministry. In a specific case, a company introduced itself as “a government licensed sourcing agent” and said it was looking for a reliable manufacturer/supplier of hot stamping machine to supply hot stamping machine to MITI for its “on-going development projects”. MITI would like to advise that this is a scam and no such agent has been appointed by the Ministry. The public is advised to exercise due diligence when evaluating any such proposals received through email.

The Minister of International Trade and Industry, Y.B. Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed will be leading a Trade and Investment Mission to Seoul and Busan, Republic of Korea (ROK) from 16-19 July 2012. The Minister will be accompanied by Government Officials, State Government Representatives and a business delegation. The objectives of the mission are: ·    as a follow up to the Official Visit by YAB Deputy Prime Minister to the ROK from 11-12 June 2012; ·    seek to increase Foreign Direct Investment from ROK in the sectors of green technology, information and communication technology, solar power and automotive; and ·    to explore the prospect of increasing exports of chemicals and chemical products, E&E components and raw petroleum to the ROK. Programmes scheduled during the Trade and Investment Mission to the...

The Mission led by YB Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry include 90 Malaysia companies mainly SMEs.  The companies are involved producing Halal ingredients, food and beverages as well as Halal related logistics and services sectors. The main purpose of the Mission is to enhance and strengthen collaboration between Malaysia-Thailand in the promotion and development of Halal products and services. It is also intended to attract Thai companies to invest in the manufacture of Halal products in   Malaysia, especially in the ECERDC region. In this context, a seminar entitled “Malaysia-Thailand Bilateral Cooperation and Business Opportunity in Halal” will be held...

DELAYS in the announcement of the 13th General Election have not impacted the strength of private investments, especially foreign direct investments, said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. The investment interest in Malaysia has been continuous with the latest coming from Taiwan and Oman, he said. Malaysia is on track to attract RM1.3 trillion investments over the next five years, he told a media conference after chairing the monthly ministry briefing for all its agencies here yesterday. Based on the strong private investment level last year, Mustapa said it will not be difficult for Malaysia to attract that level of investments. Private investments in Malaysia jumped by 22 per cent in 2012, almost doubling the pace in 2011. “Our current private investments are strong. With all the benefits we have in Malaysia, I’m sure we can attract more investments in years to come.” Mustapa, who is Jeli Member of Parliament (MP), said the BN...

 

KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 (Bernama) — The International Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI) is committed to this year’s trade and investment forecasts despite global economic uncertainties, Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said Friday. “Our forcasts remain the same as far as 2013 is concern. We have to work harder to achieve the set targets and to ensure growth in this country,” he told a media briefing. He said the ministry would be focusing more to boost trade following a slower growth in the sector over the past two months due to external factors. “We will also step up efforts to enhance the country’s competitive position in terms of ranking to attract more quality investments. “We want to create better employment opportunities which will only come from quality investments,” said Mustapa, who was reappointed to the portfolio in the new cabinet line-up. Malaysia’s trade is projected to grow by four to five per cent this year. Total trade stood at RM1.31...

GEORGE TOWN, June 17 (Bernama) — The electrical and electronics (E&E) sector attracted investments of RM3.2 billion in the first quarter of the year and will remain a major contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product, says Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) Chairman Tan Sri Amirsham A.Aziz. He said the sector rebounded with a high-level of investments with 20 projects approved during the quarter and was expected to provide employment and increased opportunities to local companies. Despite Malaysia being home to many of the largest and most successful multinational corporations, the industry also had many home-grown stars. “Domestic players have taken the lead to move up the value chain as many players have started to get involved in research and development (R&D) in the E&E industry. “SMEs (small-and-medium entrepreneurs) has also shown innovation interest as there are abundant opportunities within the E&E industry,” he said in a keynote address...

MALAYSIA was rated the 16th best investment destination by the United Nations this year. We have improved our position from 19th last year to 16th. This puts us on a par with France and Canada. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development also ranked Malaysia 11th among the top 20 economies with the highest foreign direct investment (FDI) rates of return. This is an excellent indicator to show that Malaysia continues to be a profitable centre. On the same note, the AT Kearny Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index shows that we have dropped from 10th to 25th position, which is the last position measured. This report is based on a survey of 300 senior executives of the world leading corporations. It showed that these global corporations may have initially been attracted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Economic Transformation Programme. The reports are an excellent indicator and we can either rejoice or sit back and reflect. There may be a thousand...