KUALA LUMPUR (April 5): The Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (Matrade) secured potential export sales worth RM2.44 billion with nine major Chinese importers during the recent business forum and round-table meeting in China.
The meeting, coordinated by Matrade, was attended by over 100 high-profile importers and captains of industries, and was held in conjunction with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to the republic last week.
“Among the products that the importers are interested to source from Malaysia include palm oil and relevant products, edible bird’s nest, food and beverage (F&B), durian and iron products,” Matrade said in a statement on Wednesday (April 5).
Its chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Mustafa Abdul Aziz said that the national trade promotion agency treads on the heels of the latest supply and demand trends, pairing Chinese importers with Malaysian suppliers promptly.
“Besides that, Matrade offers assistance to the importers in reaching out to Malaysian suppliers virtually or physically,” he said.
Among the high-profile attendees, Beijing United Information Technology Co Ltd (IBI) senior vice-president Wang Ting has expressed his strong interest in engaging closely with Matrade in sourcing from Malaysia.
Matrade said that IBI is keen on palm oil products, coconut oil, F&B products and other agricultural produce.
“IBI is confident in the quality of Malaysian-made products, and believes the friendly economic bilateral relation between the two countries will be further uplifted through the event,” it said.
A total of 19 memoranda of understandings were exchanged during the business forum involving trade and investment cooperation as well as cultural exchange cooperation.
Notably, China has remained as Malaysia’s largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years, according to Anwar in his opening remarks during the business forum.
“Malaysia will remain fully supportive of the rule-based multilateral trading system as much as we are members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP),” he said.
Last year, China remained as Malaysia’s major export destination and source of imports, with the value of trade between the two countries worth RM487.13 billion, about 17.1% of Malaysia's total trade in 2022.
Malaysia’s exports to China also surpassed the RM200 billion mark for the first time, expanding by 9.4% to RM210.62 billion and was the highest value ever recorded.
Imports from China increased by 20.7%, valued at RM276.5 billion.
For the period of January to February 2023, exports shrank by 9.1% year-on-year to RM29.33 billion on lower exports of iron and steel products, petroleum products, as well as palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products.
However, increased exports were seen for electrical and electronics products, metalliferous ores and metal scrap as well as liquefied natural gas. Imports from China edged up by 3.6% to RM41.49 billion.
Source: https://www.theedgemarkets.com/node/662180