Malaysia's palm oil stocks in February dropped by 4.31% to 1.51 million metric tonnes, the lowest since April 2023. Crude palm oil production in the month was down 4.16% to 1.19 million tonnes, the lowest in three years, after floods disrupted production. Palm oil exports fell 16.27% to hit a 4-year low of 1 million tonnes.
Malaysia’s economy is likely to expand at a slower rate this year as the country gradually recovers from the policies and measures implemented during the lockdowns, said Prof. Geoffrey Williams from the Malaysia University of Science and Technology (MUST).
Malaysia has launched its MalaysiaBiz portal, which serves as a one stop centre to facilitate online business registrations and licensing applications, aiming to create a trade-friendly environment to encourage competitiveness and spur local economic growth.
According to observers, Malaysia must cope with a sagging economy due to the impact of the global trade tension in 2019 and strive to find a foothold before the transfer of power scheduled next year.
Malaysia's new approved direct investments in the services, manufacturing and primary sectors rose 17.7 percent year-on-year to 80.2 billion ringgit (about 19.18 billion USD) in the first half of 2018, according to data released by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) on October 29.
Malaysia trade amounted to 1.163 trillion RM (275.3 billion USD) between January and August, up 22.6 percent from the same period last year, reported the local New Straits Times.