M'SIA-THAI TRADE COULD HIT US$20 BILLION

By Jamaluddin Muhammad

BANGKOK, Sept 18 (Bernama) -- Malaysia-Thailand bilateral trade could hit a
record of US$20 billion if the current momentum continues until end of the
year, the outgoing Malaysian Ambassador to Thailand Husni Zai Yaacob said
Saturday.

He said both countries recorded a total trade of US$7.2 billion from January
to April this year, an increase of 45 per cent compared to the corresponding
period last year.

Economic recovery in both countries, greater domestic demand in respective
country and the Asean Free Trade Area were the main factors that contributed to
the higher figure, he told Bernama here.

"The Thais will have to wait for three months now to get their Proton Exora
due to the greater domestic consumption in this country currently," he said.

Malaysia's exports to the country consists of electrical and electronics
goods, crude petroleum, chemical and chemical products, machineries, appliances
and parts.

On the other hand, Malaysia imports electrical and electronics products,
automotive and automotive parts and rubber from Thailand.

Bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to US$16 billion during
the economic crisis last year and US$18 billion in 2008.

Malaysia is currently the fifth largest investor in Thailand after Japan,
United States, Singapore and China and the second largest within Asean after
Singapore.

Husni said Malaysians invested 1.1 Billion Baht in the country for the first
four months of this year, an increase of 60 per cent from the previous year.

"Overall, the political development in this country has no major impact on
the two countries' trade and investment," he said, referring to the recent
political turbulence in the country.

A peaceful street protest started on March 12 and ended with violence and
unrest on May 19 with 91 people dead and more than 1,800 injured.

In the tourism sector, Husni said 940,000 Malaysians visited this country
while 700,000 Thais visited Malaysia for the January-June period this year.

"Political development such as the Red Shirt protest in this country too has
little impact on the number of Malaysians visiting Thailand," he said.

On the bilateral relationship, he said both countries enjoyed strong and
substantive relations.

"It is the best relationship in the last five years because of strong
economic relation and strong political links with the two prime ministers
enjoying strong rapport," he said.

Husni said there was also a strong cooperation between the two countries at
the border. For the first time, Lima Dasar Strategi will be introduced to
promote cooperation between five states of Malaysia and five provinces of
Thailand in five areas.

The states are Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis, Penang and Perak and the provinces
are Yala, Narathiwat, Patani, Songkhla and Satun while the areas are trade and
investment, tourism, logistics, halal industry and education.

They would be holding a summit, an expo and business matching programme in
Haadyai from Sept 22 till 26.

On the completion of his 22 months tour of duty on Sept 20, Husni described
his stint as very rewarding and interesting as he had accomplished a lot of
things including enhancing economic, trade and investment cooperation between
the two countries.

Husni arrived in this capital Nov 2008 to begin his new assignment as
ambassador to this country and the next day the Suvarnabhumi Airport was closed
following the seizure by the Yellow Shirts supporters.

"It is a very useful experience in crisis management. We were not sure of
the outcome (of the seizure) and people back home as well as Malaysians here
were worried and needed our advice," he said.

Another major crisis he handled was the Red Shirts rally and at the height
of it, the embassy opened its operation centre 24 hours a day to provide
assistance and advice to Malaysians.

It was not altogether new for the diplomat, who in his 30 years of
experience has also seen through other crises including a revolution in the
Philippines in 1986 as well as the United States' invasion in Iraq when he was
the ambassador to Kuwait. Iraq fired few rockets into Kuwait at that time.

He said the most important lessons that could be learnt during his stint in
this country was the good contingency plans and planning for the probable worst
case scenarios.

"You also have to work closely with the embassy staff, Malaysia-Thailand
Chamber of Commerce and Kelab Malaysia as you have to plan for their families'
safety and properties and work closely with the host government in handling the
crisis."

It is important to analyse the crisis carefully before making any decisions
and an example is to look at whether the protesters are targeting foreigners,
said Husni who would be returning to serve at Wisma Putra.
-- BERNAMA


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