Friday 25 October 2013

Malaysia-China relationship an opportunity of a lifetime, says Xi

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia and China set the stage for a boom in relationship and the economy with what Chinese President Xi Jinping has described as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

He described the great opportunities available from the significant upgrading of trade and business ties between the two countries, as “shi bu zai lai” (‘it will only come once’ in Mandarin).

Based on what has been agreed by the two leaders over a five-year economic and trade cooperation, there is much in store for both countries to benefit.

Malaysia and China have also finalised the teamwork mechanism for the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park (QIP), launched in April last year, and signed the agreed minutes for the setting up of a joint cooperation council of the QIP and the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP).

The MCKIP, the sister park of QIP in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in China, was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in April 2011.

The formation of the council is a huge step forward for the iconic QIP-MCKIP tie-up, as it would be responsible for coordinating, promoting, monitoring and evaluating the progress and development of the parks.

Most significantly, Najib and Xi pledge to achieve a bilateral trade volume of US$160bil (RM508bil) by the end of 2017 – 1.7 times more than last year’s amount.

The leaders also spoke about extending their cooperation in areas such as information, telecommunication, remote sensing satellite technology, space technology and science.

Sentiments are high that Xi’s visit will result in positive developments to boost Malaysia’s economy that has been remained rather lacklustre for some time.

Based on responses after the milestone bilateral talk between Najib and Xi, the business community is certainly upbeat and expects the improvement of trade and investment flows to and from both nations.

“There will be fantastic opportunities for Malaysia to have strong ties with the second-largest economy in the world,” said AirAsia CEO Aireen Omar.

Berjaya Corp Bhd executive chairman Datuk Robin Tan hoped for more collaboration between businesses from Malaysia and China.

“China is definitely becoming a force to be reckoned with. It is good that its leader has placed emphasis on engaging Malaysia,” he said.

Cheng Ho Multi Culture Trade & Investment Services Bhd managing director Datuk Wira Jalilah Baba said Malaysian companies should position themselves to tap into China’s outbound investment valued at US$500bil (RM1.6tril).

Shanghai Xike Hotel Equipment Co Ltd president is willing to invest more here.

“For Chinese businesses, our interest is in expanding into Asean, and we’ve always reckoned Malaysia as one of the more important markets in the region.”

The optimism is prevalent.

To Malaysia and China, the success of both QIP and MCKIP would be crucial towards the growth in literal trade and investment.

But the industrial parks are also expected to bring in far more benefits than just the trade figures.

If implemented well, the much-needed FDI from China and elsewhere would flow in addition to China’s aim of getting more Chinese companies to venture out of the world’s second largest economy.

And Malaysia should be reaping the benefits when both parks are up and running later this decade.

(Source: The Star Online)

No comments:

Post a Comment