Malaysia’s total trade rises to RM1.49 trillion

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 -- Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed during a media conference on Malaysia's Trade Performance 2016 today. -- fotoBERNAMA (2017) COPYRIGHT RESERVED

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s total trade grew by 1.5% to reach RM1.49 trillion in 2016 compared with RM1.46 trillion in the previous year, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said.

He said exports rose by 1.1% to RM785.93bil and imports grew by 1.9% to RM698.66bil, resulting in a trade surplus of RM87.27bil, the 19th consecutive year of trade surplus since 1998.

Mustapa said Asean’s share of Malaysia’s total exports expanded to 29.4% in 2016 from 28.2% in 2015, the highest share since 1993.

“Specifically in December 2016, Malaysia’s total trade recorded a double-digit growth of 11.1% to RM142.39bil compared with a year ago,” he said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

He said exports in December 2016 expanded by 10.7% year-on-year to RM75.55bil, the highest value in 2016 with manufactured goods continued to support Malaysia’s exports.

Explaining in details, he said, the increase in total trade in 2016 was contributed by higher trade with China, which expanded by RM10.09bil, United States (RM6.87bil), South Korea (RM3.56bil), Taiwan (RM3.29bil) and Saudi Arabia (RM3.04bil).

The minister said significant increases were also recorded with Turkey amounting to RM2.81bil, Hong Kong (RM1.93bil), India (RM1.85bil), Mexico (RM1.64bil), Brazil (RM1.52bil), Bangladesh (RM1.48bil), Asean (RM1.41bil) and the European Union (EU) (RM549.6mil).

He said the major contributors to export growth in 2016 were expansion of manufactured and agricultural exports by 3.2% and 4.7%, respectively, compensating for the lower performance of mining goods.

The continued growth for electrical and electronics (E & E) exports were driven by strong global demand for electronic devices and rising exports to Asean by 5.4% with significant growth to Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. The Philippines also spurred exports.

Mustapa said Asean remained as an important and strategic trading partner for Malaysia, taking up RM230.93bil of Malaysia’s exports in 2016, an increase of 5.4%. 

In terms of trade, Asean accounted for 27.1% of Malaysia’s total trade in 2016, with a value of RM402.66bil, an increase of 0.4%, he said.

Mustapa said the increase in exports was led by manufactured goods which expanded by RM12.97bil or 6.7%.

The exports of manufactured goods accounted for 89.1% in 2016 compared with 87.9% in 2015, he said.

“The expansion in this sector was contributed by higher exports of E & E products, petroleum products, manufactures of metal, processed food, transport equipment, chemicals and chemical products, machinery, equipment and parts as well as textiles,” he said.

Among the Asean countries, Singapore remained the largest export market with a share of 49.6% of total exports to Asean. 

“China continued to be the largest trading partner with Malaysia for the eighth consecutive year since 2009. In 2016, Malaysia’s trade with China increased by 4.4% to RM240.91bil,” said Mustapa.

Trade with the EU increased by 0.4% to RM149.05bil.

Malaysia’s exports to the EU were higher by 1.2% to RM79.84bil.

Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France and Belgium remained the top five export destinations in the region, accounting for 78.8% of Malaysia’s total exports to the EU, he said.

The country also maintained sturdy export performance to the US with an increase of 8.9% to RM80.23bil.

“Trade with the US expanded by 5.3% to RM135.88bil in 2016,” he said.

In 2016, Malaysia’s exports to South Asia grew by 6.9% to RM45.39bil, after a decline of 0.9% in 2015. 

Trade with South Asia rose by 7.4% to RM63.8bil in 2016 and imports increased by 8.6% to RM18.4bil, he said.

In 2016, other promising markets with significant growth in exports were Mexico, increased by RM1.59bil, attributed mainly to E & E products, Tanzania (RM264.2mil, palm oil and palm-based agriculture products) and Nigeria (RM201.9mil, petroleum products), he said. - Bernama