International trade – Malaysia’s economic leverage in 2022

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Despite difficulties caused by COVID-19, international trade was considered Malaysia’s economic leverage in 2022, expanding by close to 30% to 2.613 trillion MYR (593.5 billion USD) for the period of January to November 2022, according to the latest figure published by the Department of Statistics of Malaysia.

Within this period, exports increased by 27.2% to reach 1.42 trillion MYR while imports rose by 33.3% to 1.193 trillion MYR. Trade surplus edged up by 2.6% to 227.89 billion MYR.

To achieve this fruitful result, the CEO of Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), Mohd Mustafa Abdul Aziz, said the year 2022 was truly an outstanding milestone for Malaysia’s trade thanks to breakthroughs from 2021.

Foreign investments in Malaysia played a significant role in the growth of Malaysia's trade over the last few decades. MSMEs contributed 37.4% of Malaysia's GDP and 11.7% to overall Malaysia's exports for 2021.

Hence, it is vital for Malaysian MSMEs to adopt digitalisation to be more competitive globally. In 2021, gross value added of eCommerce amounted to 201.1 billion MYR, an increase of 22.7%.

Malaysia can benefit from opportunities presented by globalization and regional economic integration through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) by taking advantages of its strategic location.

In addition, globalization has huge potential for Malaysia, providing accessibility as the country continues to expand its market share on international market on a greater scale in the time to come./.