Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry Mustapa Mohamed (Source:Internet) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Japan was ranked as Malaysia 's fourth largest trading partner after China , Singapore and the US in 2015, according to Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry Mustapa Mohamed.
Speaking to the press after the Japan-Malaysia Invest Symposium held on March 15, Mustapa said trade between Japan and Malaysia reached 127.4 billion MYR (31 billion USD) last year, accounting for 8.7 percent of the country’s total global trade, down 7.2 percent against 2014.
Exports to Japan decreased by 10.7 percent to 73.8 billion MYR (18 billion USD) in 2015, while imports dropped 2.1 percent to 53.6 billion MYR (13 billion USD).
He said from 2009 to 2015, a total of 355 manufacturing projects with investments from Japanese firms of over 33 billion MYR (8 billion USD) created nearly 40,000 jobs in Malaysia .
Mustapa added that the Japanese investors are particularly well-represented in sectors such as electronics and electrical products; non-metallic mineral products; basic metal products; petroleum products, including petrochemicals, chemical and chemical products; and transport equipment.
In 2015, the ministry approved 60 manufacturing projects from Japan involving investment of nearly 1 billion USD, he said.
Mustapa said Japanese investors should not see Malaysia just as an investment destination, but also as a base and gateway to ASEAN, which is home to a consumer market of over 620 million people with a combined gross domestic product of 2.5 trillion USD.
With the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community last year, ASEAN is now a rising star, he said.-VNA
