Malaysia's E&E Industry Records 20.6 Pct Growth In First Two Months Of 2017

GEORGE TOWN (Penang, Malaysia), April 25 (Bernama) -- The electrical and electronics (E&E) industry grew by 20.6 per cent in the first two months of this year, says International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed. He said Malaysia achieved significant progress in the E&E industry over the last decade that had resulted in the growth of new businesses and creation of jobs. Malaysia was the world’s seventh largest exporter of E&E products, valued at RM287.7 billion (US$65.69 billion) last year, and made up 36 per cent of Malaysia’s total exports. “Well, last year’s performance was certainly better. Last year’s total trade in E&E only grew by 1.5 per cent. Overall our forecast is somewhere around five per cent growth for this year. “But, the performance in the fiirst two months has been excellent. The E&E industry has done well,” he told a press conference after opening the three-day SEMICON Southeast Asia 2017 exhibition which began here Tuesday. Mustapa said the industry has shown an upward trend in exports for the past three years and it was the only industry that recorded trade surplus for three consecutive years. He said the machinery and equipment (M&E) industry also grew robustly over the years with a strong export performance that contributed to more than five per cent of total exports of manufactured goods in 2016. “In 2016 the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) approved 88 M&E projects with investments of RM1.54 billion (US$351.71 million),” he said. SEMICON Southeast Asia, organised by MIDA in collaboration with the Semiconductor Equipment and Material International, is expected to attract more than 7,500 visitors to view latest technologies showcased by 250 companies from 13 countries at three-day exhibition, which began Tuesday. -- BERNAMA