Malaysia targets Central Asian and Latin American markets to address declining export value, says PM

KUALA LUMPUR: Diversifying export destinations is among several initiatives to mitigate declining export value in the current global situation, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The Prime Minister said Malaysia has started adding more export destinations which include countries in Central Asia and Latin America.

He said for the first nine months of this year, exports to Central Asian and Latin American markets recorded growth of 24.7% and 2.3% respectively.

“One of the programmes held is an international sourcing programme,” he said during Prime Minister’s Question Time on Tuesday (Oct 31).

Anwar was responding to Datuk Dr Ku Abd Rahman Ku Ismail (PN-Kubang Pasu) who asked about the mitigation measures taken to address declining export value from January to September this year compared to last year.

The Prime Minister said global economic conditions which include high inflation were among the factors that affected Malaysia’s trade performance.

He said trade value depreciated 8.6% to RM1.942 trillion compared to the same period last year.

“Export value surpassed the RM1 trillion mark with RM1.06 trillion, showing (a decline of) 8.4%. Import value decreased 8.9% to RM882.24bil, while trade surplus dropped by 5.7% to RM177.32bil,” said Anwar, who is also Finance Minister.

Following the negative performance, he said the government has increased exports to markets under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

“Lower tariff was imposed on Malaysian products which include palm oil, electrical and electronic goods and automotive products, among others,” Anwar said.

Through 46 overseas offices of the Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (Matrade), Anwar said foreign companies have gone through business matching with local companies via exhibitions and conferences.