PUTRAJAYA, June 19 — Malaysia and China have agreed to implement another cycle of a five-year programme for economic and trade cooperation, which was first established in 2013, said Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.
The programme, which will run from 2024 to 2028, aims to deepen cooperation in existing areas including trade and investment, manufacturing, agricultural infrastructure, the digital economy, logistics, and developing small and medium enterprises.
It also seeks to promote collaboration in new areas, including innovation, start-ups, and financial services.
To strengthen ties between the two countries, Tengku Zafrul and China’s Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao signed and exchanged three key documents today, witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
The first document signed relates to the initial Malaysia-China Five-Year Programme for Economic and Trade Cooperation in 2013, highlighting that the programme had significantly boosted bilateral trade and deepened economic cooperation.
This includes making China Malaysia’s top trading partner since 2009 and one of Malaysia’s leading sources of foreign direct investments.
The Five-Year Programme for Economic and Trade Cooperation (2024-2028) encourages participation from businesses in other countries, as well as from international multilateral organisations and financial institutions.
Additionally, two new Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were signed to increase high-quality investment in the digital and green economies.
Under the MoU on the digital economy, both countries aim to explore cooperation in digital infrastructure, including communication networks, smart infrastructure, and smart cities, enabled by technologies like artificial intelligence and 5G connectivity in sectors like manufacturing, transportation, business, finance, education, and healthcare.
Meanwhile, the MoU on green development seeks to explore cooperation in clean energy, new energy vehicles, green finance, sustainable infrastructure construction and green technology.
This cooperation includes research and development and the establishment of scientific and technological innovation platforms to accelerate both countries’ green transformation.
“Malaysia and China are longstanding partners, bound by a rich shared history of cooperation that has successfully translated into strong trade and investment ties.
“The signing of the three documents on economy and trade, the digital economy, and the green economy underscore our mutual commitment to establish stable, reliable and resilient partnerships for our businesses and economy to grow,” said Tengku Zafrul.
He added that the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) would work closely with China’s Ministry of Commerce and its stakeholders to fully realise the outcomes of these cooperation arrangements.
Miti also welcomes the Malaysia-China cooperation on establishing a single-window system to facilitate cross-border trade by streamlining trade regulatory processes and simplifying documentation.
This system will enable the seamless digital exchange of trade-related information between customs authorities in both countries.
Such digital exchange would be enabled using leading-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence and blockchain to ensure real-time, seamless and accurate exchange of data, while also expanding the spectrum of trade facilitation services to importers and exporters.
“The single window trade initiative between Malaysia and China is a strategic step towards enhancing Malaysia’s trade facilitation capabilities and is expected to significantly expedite and streamline the movement of goods while reducing the administrative burden for businesses.
“This will not only support bilateral trade growth but also nurture economic resilience between Malaysia and China,” said Tengku Zafrul.
Miti is committed to working closely with the Finance Ministry and China’s General Administration of Customs to ensure the successful implementation of this single window interoperability to foster a more efficient, transparent, secure and resilient trade environment.
— Bernama
