PUTRAJAYA: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is expected to lead a delegation to the sixth World Chinese Economic Forum (WCEF) in Chongqing, China on Dec 4 and 5.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said Muhyiddin is also expected to deliver a keynote address at the forum which is organised to promote closer ties between China and South East Asia, the West and the global Chinese diaspora.
Liow, who is also MCA president, said the forum was significant as China has been Malaysia's largest trading partner since 2009.
He said he was confident that bilateral trade could be boosted from the current USD$ 106 billion to USD$160 billion by 2017.
He added Malaysia was the third country in Asia to have surpassed the USD$ 100 billion mark, after Japan and South Korea.
"This is a mandate that has been envisaged by both the nation's leaders Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Chinese President Xi Jinping in a five year Programme for economic trade and cooperation," he said during his speech when launching the forum at the ministry headquarters, here, yesterday.
Other notable delegates expected to speak at the forum are former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Governor of Victoria, Australia Alex Chernov, and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Mah Siew Keong, among others.