KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — The country’s trade with Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners recorded double-digit growth of 10.3 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth of RM 88.05 million.
A press statement from the international trade and industries (Miti) today said that the trades with FTA made up 64.6 percent of Malaysia’s total trade of RM136.28 billion in February 2020 alone.
“In February 2020, trade with Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners which made up 64 per cent of Malaysia’s total trade recorded a double-digit growth of 10.3 per cent y-o-y to RM88.05 billion. Exports to FTA partners were valued at RM50.02 billion, an increase of 11.2 per cent and imports grew by 9.2per cent to RM38.03 billion.
“Significant increases in exports were recorded to the ROK (Republic of Korea), by 51.6 per cent to RM3.41 billion primarily on account of expansion in exports of LNG while Turkey (42.7 per cent increase to RM689.6 million) and Pakistan (71.9 per cent increase to RM400.5 million) due to higher exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products, respectively.
“Compared to the previous month, trade, exports and imports contracted by 14.8 per cent, 12.2 per cent and 17.9 percent, respectively,” said the statement.
The statement said that trade with FTA partners for the first 2 months of 2020 which comprised 65.4 per cent of Malaysia’s total trade amounted to RM191.37 billion.
Meanwhile, total imports trade in February 2020 also increased by 11.3 per cent to RM61.83 billion from February 2019.
It said that the three main categories of imports which accounted for 79.1 percent of total imports were:
• Intermediate goods, valued at RM38.39 billion or 62.1 percent share of total imports, increased by 20.4 percent, buoyed by higher imports of parts and accessories of capital goods (except transport equipment) particularly parts of electrical machinery and equipment;
• Capital goods, valued at RM5.49 billion or 8.9 percent of total imports, down by 16.9 percent, due mainly to lower imports of capital goods (except transport equipment), particularly parts of machinery and mechanical appliances; and
• Consumption goods, valued at RM5.02 billion or 8.1percent of total imports, rose by 10.1 percent, supported by higher imports of processed food & beverages mainly for household consumption, particularly meat.
Overall, for the first two months of the year, imports amounted to RM133.91 billion, an increase of 3.5 per cent from the same period of 2019 with Intermediate goods totalled RM77.24 billion, increased by 11.4 per cent, capital goods (RM13.14 billion, 15.7 percent decrease) and consumption goods (RM11.47 billion, 3.6 percent increase).
Malaysia has implemented 7 bilateral FTAs and 6 regional FTAs currently according to Miti.
