Posted on 15 Jun 2016
More focus should be given to increase the export of services, besides products and goods, in an effort to drive export growth, said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
He said there was an RM11 billion deficit in the services trade account balance in 2014, which widened to RM20 billion last year, reflecting Malaysia’s import of services exceeding its services export.
“We cannot be overly dependent on tourism, although it is half of total services export. Other (services) exports like healthcare, tourism, education, architecture, logistics, construction also have to be emphasised,” he told reporters after a seminar on Doing Business in Japan here yesterday.
In the first four months of 2016, exports expanded to RM246.51 billion, an increase of 1.2% while imports decreased by 0.9% to RM213.51 billion. Total trade was valued at RM460.02 billion compared with RM459.04 billion recorded during the same period last year.
Trade surplus registered a double-digit growth of 17% to reach a value of RM32.99 billion during the period.
Earlier, he encouraged Malaysian businesses to tap into the potential of supplying products and services for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Mustapa said demand is expected to surface from the international event, especially in the halal segment.
“The perception in Malaysia is that it is difficult for Malaysian SMEs to enter the Japanese market but actually it is not if you follow the standards,” Mustapa said.
Malaysian companies operating halal restaurants in Japan include Brahim’s Food Japan Co Ltd, Les’ Copaque Japan Co Ltd and Harq Food Industry Sdn Bhd. Other Malaysian brands that have a presence in Japan are Life, Top Glove, S. Kian Seng, Julie’s, Carotino and Bonia.
He said Malaysia and Japan both signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, which is expected to be an impetus for greater business prospects in terms of market access and the reduction or elimination of tariffs.
Citing an example, Mustapa said the import duties for plywood in Japan is 6-10% and this will be halved when TPP comes into effect, as well as be eliminated within 15 years. In addition, the present import duties of 8.5-9% for frozen chicken in Japan is expected to be eliminated within 11 years.
The Malaysia External Trade Development Corp is organising 12 trade promotion programmes this year in collaboration with Japanese trade organisations.
In 2015, Japan was Malaysia’s fourth largest trading partner after China, Singapore and the US, with total trade valued at RM127.4 billion.
Japan also remains among Malaysia’s largest source of foreign direct investments in the manufacturing sector. Japanese investors are mainly in sectors such as electronics and electrical products, non-metallic mineral products, basic metal products, petroleum products including petrochemicals, chemicals and chemical products, as well as transport equipment.
