KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has embarked on a Trade and Investment Mission to European Union (EU) countries, namely Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium in an effort to further strengthen ongoing bilateral trade relations.
Led by minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, the mission would cover Hamburg in Germany, Amsterdam in the Netherlands as well as Brussels in Belgium within three days from today to the 20th October 2017.
The focus sectors during this mission are electric and electronics (automotive/automation parts), logistics, palm oil and oleo chemicals as well as development and application of industry 4.0 elements in the manufacturing sector.
A delegation of 37 people comprising 10 officials from MITI and agencies, as well as 27 businessmen from 14 organisations will be participating in this mission.
Mustapa will also be engaging various stakeholders and businesses including the chambers of commerce and industry as well as meeting industry captains from Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium to further promote Malaysia as their ideal trade and investment partner.
On top of meeting his counterpart, the European Commissioner for Trade to discuss the way forward for Malaysia European Union Free Trade Agreement (MEUFTA), Mustapa will also visit the Sime Darby Unimills and Brainport Eindhoven high tech campus in the Netherlands.
Together with the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Mustapa is also scheduled to jointly co-host a networking dinner for the European palm oil industry players.
According to data provided by MITI, Malaysia's total trade with these EU countries grew by 18.3 per cent to RM113.4 billion (€23.6 billion) within the first eight months of the year.
Exports during the period were valued at RM62.9 billion (€13.1 billion) while imports was at RM50.5 billion (€10.5 billion).
Within the EU, Germany has become Malaysia’s largest trading partner as of the end of 2016 with total bilateral trade increasing by 7.1 per cent to RM46.1 billion (€10.0 billion).
From this total, exports to Germany have also increased by 13.5 per cent to RM22.3 billion (€4.9 billion), and imports from Germany increased by 1.8 per cent to RM23.4 billion (€5.2 billion).