KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — In the spirit of cooperation and friendship, Malaysia wants to see its top trade partner, China, working together with the United States (US) to find amicable solutions to end the trade conflict, said the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI).
Senior director, strategic planning, John Patrick Antonysamy said MITI hoped the efforts would take into account the “global responsibility” of the world’s two largest economies and buffer the impact of their conflict on smaller economies like Malaysia.
The economic giants have been engaged in a trade war via higher tariffs and other measures since early last year.
Currently, US trade negotiators are in Shanghai to resume talks with Chinese officials in order to try bridging their differences over trade and technology as well as geopolitical issues.
While economists and analysts are predicting that the US and China are unlikely to end their negotiations soon, they however acknowledge that a country like Malaysia would benefit from the ongoing trade war with the Chinese investors shifting their businesses here.
On that note, Antonysamy said Malaysia, which celebrates its 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties with China this year, welcomed cooperation and investments from the country that would bring in capital, create high-skilled jobs and uplift technological advancement for Malaysia.
“We entice quality investments that are driven by the use of advanced technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence and knowledge-intensive sectors which could spur the growth of our manufacturing base, all of which are strong areas of expertise that China has got to offer,” he said in his speech at the Belt and Road China-Malaysia Forum on People to People Exchange and Economic Cooperation here today.
He also said that Malaysia was currently working on a new industrial master plan for the next decade — 2021 to 2030.
The plan aims to drive industrialisation further and leverage on the latest cutting edge technology.
“We look forward to working closely with technology leaders from around the world, including China, to leverage on their expertise and move our industries forward into the next decade,” he added.
For the past 10 consecutive years, China has been Malaysia’s number one trading partner, ranking first in terms of imports and being the second largest export destination.
In 2018, total trade between the countries was valued at US$77.72 billion, an increase of 8.1 per cent from 2017.
On the investment front, China was the largest investor in terms of approved manufacturing projects in Malaysia, with investments amounting to US$4.75 billion in 2018.
“This position has been maintained since 2016. We foresee that this strong relationship with China will continue to grow and attract more foreign direct investment in 2019 and beyond,” he said. — Bernama
