KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — Malaysia’s trade performance for this year remains within expectations, with the nation on track to achieve 4 to 5 per cent growth, said Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
Tengku Zafrul said the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) expects global trade to moderate in the second half of the year amid ongoing uncertainties.
“There has been some front-loading, especially in the last five months, but at the same time, given the August 1 deadline (for United States tariffs to take effect), we expect the (moderation) to continue.
“We will issue the latest trade numbers for June on Friday, and what is important is that Malaysia’s trade performance is still within expectations,” he told a press conference on Miti’s report card for April to June 2025.
Tengku Zafrul noted that Bank Negara Malaysia has projected trade growth at around 5 per cent this year, while the Finance Ministry expects about 3.9 per cent.
“We will continue to focus on achieving (those) targets,” he said.
Earlier during the report card presentation, Tengku Zafrul said the country has accumulated RM25.6 billion in potential investments and RM30.8 billion in potential exports from trade and investment missions.
Malaysia also inked new deals with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in June, which is expected to reach RM14.4 billion in trade with the EFTA market.
Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul said his ministry is looking into tariff and non-tariff matters that can be agreed upon by both Malaysia and the US.
“I have set a deadline for the negotiation team, and there are issues that we still need time for because they involve many agencies and ministries. We are trying to conclude it before US President Donald Trump’s tariff deadline on August 1.
“We are doing the calculations as well on the impact to our exports and to the government’s revenue. We will continue to have another discussion this week and accelerate the discussion until the end of this month,” he added.
Tengku Zafrul noted that some concerns on non-tariff issues have been addressed by Miti through the implementation of the Strategic Trade Act 2010, while “red line” issues, such as those related to equity interest in certain sectors, must be carefully studied.
“Malaysia has equity restrictions for foreign shareholders for certain sectors, so there is a request for us to relook or liberalise those sectors. Many countries have been asked to do the same.
“We must consult the industries on whether we are ready to liberalise those equity shareholding restrictions, especially when it comes to foreign equity restrictions that we have for many sectors, so we must carefully study the impact,” he said.
— Bernama
