SINGAPORE, March 9 (NNN-Bernama) —\u00a0Malaysia sees its commitment to ASEAN as a strategic imperative in its engagement with other ASEAN member states and China, said\u00a0Malaysia\u2019s International Trade and Industry Minister\u00a0Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He noted that China is both Malaysia and ASEAN\u2019s largest trading partner, adding that China and ASEAN — with their combined population of over two billion — can shape the trajectory of the Asian Century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn fact, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) looks set to be a strong enabler for this. China has witnessed a year-on-year trade increase of 15 per cent with Asean in 2022 — the first year that RCEP went into effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur economic relationship has stood the test of some trying times. China-Asean bilateral trade even bucked the negative trend caused by the pandemic, jumping from US$641.5 billion in 2019 to US$975.3 billion in 2022,\u201d Tengku Zafrul said in his address at the CGS China-ASEAN Business Leaders Summit here Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The minister also highlighted that China was Malaysia\u2019s top investor last year, with investments worth US$12.5 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the region rebuilds its economies from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tengku Zafrul said Malaysia, together with China and ASEAN member states, may also consider establishing multilateral cooperation partnerships with other Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) participating countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This would help to facilitate the flow of goods, capital and services, he said, adding that Malaysia is ready to support the BRI with its skilled and multilingual talent pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The minister also proposed several key sectors that can be jointly explored for the mutual benefit of all parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This includes the financial as well as the halal markets, he said, noting that 20 per cent of China\u2019s huge population is unbanked, while 70 per cent of Southeast Asia\u2019s populace is either unbanked or underbanked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSurely there are vast opportunities in this sphere. Also, in a region where 42 per cent of the population are Muslims, Islamic finance and the halal industry remain relatively untapped for China-facing businesses, including in terms of the BRI,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To this end, he proposed a mutual recognition of each other\u2019s halal certification, as a start, which would also ensure better cost-efficiency for small and medium enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China and ASEAN member countries could also work closely together in sectors such as environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) and clean energy, as well as the digital economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tengku Zafrul highlighted that Malaysia\u2019s policies are strong on all three scores, reflecting the country\u2019s strong sustainability commitment, solid focus on digital technology as well as a mature and well-regulated financial market and halal ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs Malaysia\u2019s new Trade Minister, I can say that we are determined to position Malaysia as pro-trade, pro-business, and pro-investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would, therefore, suggest that Malaysia has what it takes to be a prime, cost-efficient launching pad or support base for countries seeking to enter not only Southeast Asia but also the rest of Asia, including China,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the minister said Malaysia is confident that the upgrading negotiations of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA), which are expected to be concluded within two years, will also further strengthen the existing close ties, both at the bilateral and regional levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Touching on ASEAN\u2019s neutrality principles, he said Malaysia will also continue to remain friendly with all its key trading partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFurthermore, the relationship between ASEAN and China must always be one that is premised upon mutual trust and respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe fervently hope that any potential feud of the great powers will not spill over into our borders. But we appreciate their presence in and commitment to our region, especially in business, investment and trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is our earnest hope that Southeast Asia can remain a zone of minimal conflict or hostility, and one that supports global cooperation, prosperity and peace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
— NNN-BERNAMA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SINGAPORE, March 9 (NNN-Bernama) —\u00a0Malaysia sees its commitment to ASEAN as a strategic imperative in its engagement with other ASEAN member states and China, said\u00a0Malaysia\u2019s International Trade and Industry Minister\u00a0Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz. He noted that China is both Malaysia and ASEAN\u2019s largest trading partner, adding that China and ASEAN — with their combined population of over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":201637,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[215,288,300,318],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213782"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=213782"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213784,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213782\/revisions\/213784"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/201637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=213782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=213782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=213782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}