Malaysia and Qatar are discussing a wide-range of opportunities towards strengthening bilateral trade relations between the two countries, International Trade and Industry Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali said today while meeting Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Qassim Al-Abdullah Al-Thani, Minister of Commerce and Industry of Qatar.
The Malaysian Minister briefed the Qatari Minister on Malaysia’s National Investment Aspirations (NIA), a holistic reform of our investment agenda, which is poised to attract high impact investments in new growth areas and bring about bountiful spill over effects to the economy.
“To give our bilateral trade a new impetus, I proposed that Malaysia and Qatar set a trade target of USD 1 billion by 2025.
“I believe this target is attainable as our bilateral trade increased by 24.4 percent last year, and Malaysia’s exports to Qatar increased by 31.9 percent compared to 2020, despite the unprecedented economic challenges caused by the COVID-19 outbreak,” Azmin said in a statement posted on his Facebook few minutes ago.
He added, he also informed His Excellency that RCEP has come into force for Malaysia effective from 18 March this year. This will pave the way for businesses in the region to integrate into the world’s largest free trade agreement (FTA) with a market covering 15 countries comprising more than 2.2 billion or nearly a third of global population and world GDP.
In addition to its magnitude of tariff reductions, RCEP addresses liberalisation, increase trade facilitation, as well as enhance business environment, he said, adding ” I urge Qatari companies to take advantage of RCEP by partnering with Malaysian companies to tap on the benefits of RCEP, and be part of the new regional economic landscape.”
Both Ministers also acknowledged the importance of the Malaysia-Qatar Joint Trade Committee (JTC) in identifying potential new areas of bilateral cooperation.
“Both governments have agreed to hold the third JTC Meeting in order to chart the future path of economic growth of both countries, targeting at growing the strategic and high impact sectors.
Malaysia and Qatar will also continue to work on the Investment Guarantee Agreement (IGA) to encourage more cross-border investments between the two countries as we strive for a strong and sustainable economic recovery,” said Azmin.- Malaysia World News
