Tengku Zafrul: We must continue to engage with the United States and try to understand the concerns and try to mitigate some of those concerns.
KUALA LUMPUR: Chinese President Xi Jinping’s three-day state visit to Malaysia marks a significant milestone as both countries seek to strengthen their economic ties, culminating in the signing of a total of 31 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) yesterday.
Xi’s visit to Malaysia is his second stop in the region, as China looks to bolster relations with South-East Asian economies amid global trade volatility.
According to Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, the signing of the MoUs, three of which with his ministry, would pave the way for more exports to China, while attracting Chinese investments to beef up Malaysia’s technology sector.
Electrical and electronic products account for about 40% of Malaysia’s total export.
The country is home to some of the world’s most prominent semiconductor firms, including US-based Intel and Germany’s Infineon Technologies.
However, Malaysia’s technology sector stocks fell on April 15 following US investigations into imports of semiconductors, which set the stage for potential tariffs on the sector’s key products.
The United States is investigating imports of semiconductors and pharmaceuticals on the grounds that heavy reliance on foreign production of medicine and chips poses a national security threat.
“Xi’s visit signifies the importance of Malaysia in terms of our role in Asean and also our role between Malaysia and China. We celebrated 50 years last year and at the same time we want to improve (our ties).
“When you look at the MoUs, a lot of them are in areas relating to new technology and artificial intelligence (AI),” Tengku Zafrul told a select group of media yesterday.
Last year, marked the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia.
“At the same time, we also want to see how we can work on trade and investment to ease some of the concerns to allow more Malaysian companies to export to China, and, at the same time, for China to invest more in Malaysia in the right sectors to build up our technology sectors, especially in AI and semiconductors,” he added.
The minister highlighted that China has been one of the biggest investors in Malaysia, especially in the last 10 years.
“Therefore, the official invitation of President Xi to Malaysia is important for us to further improve on what we have achieved so far between China and Malaysia in terms of investment and trade.
“Today’s MoUs show the commitment of both sides to further improve investment and trade between the two countries,” Tengku Zafrul added.
