KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 ― The international trade scenario is expected to be more stable in 2020 following the signing of the phase one trade deal between the world’s two economic powerhouses ― the United States (US) and China, said International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Ong Kian Ming.

"I hope this (signing) would give confidence to the international trade situation and provide a more stable foundation for traders.

"It would also give a positive impact on the global supply chain and I believe it would enable Malaysia to make the preparations to enhance our international trade this year,” he said to reporters after officiating the launch of the Centagate Cloud platform here, today.

Centagate, the centralised authentication gateway solution developed by Securemetric Bhd, is a comprehensive end-to-end customisable turnkey option that manages user authentication and supports multi-factor and multi-channel authentication.

Yesterday, the US and China signed a trade agreement that will reduce several tariffs, paving the way for China to increase purchases of US goods and services, thus defusing an 18-month trade conflict that has hit global growth.

Ong also said the US-China trade agreement would also have a positive effect on Malaysia’s gross domestic product growth (GDP) in 2020.

"However, I feel there are many other factors that can contribute to the country’s GDP growth including domestic policies that we will implement, as announced in the 2020 Budget,” he added. ― Bernama