King Says Malaysia's Economy To Benefit Greatly From Free Trade Agreements

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian economy will benefit greatly from regional and international free trade agreements, the country's King, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah said. His Majesty said these agreements represented the backbone of the rules-based multilateral trading system. According to His Majesty, the ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) would widen market access for local companies and bring manifold opportunities for them, especially the small and medium enterprises, to increase their participation in the regional and global value chain. “Through the National Investment Aspirations framework, the focus will be on the new economic growth sectors that could attract high-impact and technological investments as well as create job opportunities,” the King said when opening the first meeting of the Fifth Session of the 14th Parliament, Monday. Malaysia will officially be the 12th country to ratify the RCEP on March 18 following its successful submission of the Instrument of Ratification to the ASEAN secretariat on Jan 17, 2022. Al-Sultan Abdullah said the government’s proactive action in rejuvenating and boosting the country’s investment and trade had been recognised by global institutions. “The Milken Institute Global Opportunity Index 2022 has crowned Malaysia as the most attractive investment destination for foreign investors among the newly-emerging Southeast Asian economies,” the King said. His Majesty also noted that Malaysia’s trade performance had, for the first time, in 2021 surpassed RM2 trillion with exports valued at RM1.24 trillion. “This means that the country’s export target of RM1.25 trillion by 2025, as outlined in the 12th Malaysia Plan, has been achieved four years early. “I am confident this success is a reflection of foreign investors’ confidence on the country’s economic fundamentals and investment ecosystem,” the King added. His Majesty also said the country's economic recovery must be expedited so that Malaysia does not lag behind. His Majesty advised members of parliament to help and facilitate the people's affairs to rebuild life with a sense of security, peace and prosperity for the sake of the country. "Going forward, I call on all honourable members to continue to maintain the understanding that has been built and also preserve the political stability that has been achieved," he said. Al-Sultan Abdullah said the Malaysian economy is projected to continue to grow strongly with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of between 5.5 per cent and 6.5 per cent in 2022. “The Malaysian economy had grown by 3.1 per cent in 2021 after experiencing a contraction of 5.6 per cent in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "The recovery in economic growth shows the effectiveness of eight series of assistance and economic stimulus packages in 2020 and 2021 which totalled RM530 billion in addition to the Budget 2022 allocation," he said. His Majesty also expressed his congratulations to the government on its success in providing a total of 558,633 job placements to the rakyat compared to the target of 500,000 in 2021. “Among the indicators of economic recovery are declining unemployment and improving labour market conditions. "For 2022 under the “Jamin Kerja Keluarga Malaysia” initiative, the government has targeted the provision of almost 600,000 job opportunities," he said. -- BERNAMA