7 January 2010

Based on the latest 2009 statistics, China is now Malaysia's second largest trading partner, second largest export market and second largest source of imports.

"For the first 10 months of 2009, Malaysia's total trade with China was US28.4 billion (RM100.8 billion), with exports amounting to US$15.1 billion(RM53.6 billion)," said Malaysia's Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Mukhriz Tun Dr Mahathir at the '2010 Forum CAFTA', here Thursday.

He said in his keynote address at the forum, he was happy to note that Malaysian companies were increasingly using the preferential market access under CAFTA to export to China.

"From January to October 2009, a total of 18,758 Certificates of Origin Form E were issued amounting to US$1.89 billion (RM6.7 billion) worth of exports."

However, Mukriz said trade using preferential market access was still only a small fraction of the overall trade, therefore, awareness of this preferential trade facility under the ASEAN-China Free Trade agreement must be intensified among Malaysian businessmen.

"Especially the SMEs, they should be given more attention so that they can benefit from the preferential given."

Under the FTA framework, China and six ASEAN nations - Brunei, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore - will enjoy zero import tariff on 7000 product categories.

Besides trade in goods, ASEAN and China are also liberalising several service sectors such as architecture, engineering, telecommunications, financial services, education, health and tourism, computer and related services, management consulting services, construction, environmental services, recreational service and transport services, added Mukriz.

At the ASEAN-China foreign ministers meeting in October 2009, a MOU was signed to set up the ASEAN-China Centre this year in Beijing to promote trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchange.

Mukriz hoped this centre would be operational soon to act as an effective mechanism to promote and monitor the implementation of CAFTA.

Earlier in the morning, the deputy minister was here to witness a ceremony to mark the full implementation of CAFTA.

China has emerged as the third largest trading partner of ASEAN and accounts for about 11 per cent of ASEAN's total global trade over the years since the signing of the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Framework in 2002.

Mukriz said ASEAN and China must continue to work closely to ensure that both parties enjoyed the benefits from the expanding trade.

-- BERNAMA