KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — Malaysia will send an official representative to Singapore to discuss the High-Speed Rail project by the end of the month, said Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.
“I’m in the communication with our Singaporean counterpart. Last week, I was briefed by our Attorney-General and presented the case (to the Cabinet) on Wednesday.
“We will meet with my counterpart in Singapore soon and will discuss the details,” he told reporters after delivering a keynote address at the EU-Malaysia Trade and Investment Forum 2018 here today.
Azmin said an announcement on the matter would be made this week.
In his speech earlier, he said total trade between Malaysia and the European Union (EU) increased 25.1 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in April to RM16.15 billion, accounting for 10.4 per cent od Malaysia’s total trade.
Export grew 19.5 per cent YoY to RM8.93 billion, while import increased 32.8 per cent to RM7.22 billion, he said.
On foreign direct investment (FDI), he said the EU recorded a total FDI of RM107 billion as at the first quarter of 2018, while Malaysia had invested RM59 billion in Europe, mainly in services worth RM35.3 billion.
Azmin said Malaysia would intensify efforts to attract more quality FDIs going forward, particularly in the green field investments that would contribute to real value creation and spur productivity, innovation and complement the country’s business ecosystem.
“We want to see the establishment of production plants and factories. We also want to see the transfer of technology, generation of employment opportunities and local small and medium enterprises moving up the value chain,” he added. — Bernama
