Venture into China market, minister tells entrepreneurs
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysians should become entrepreneurs and seize the business opportunities cropping up in the country recently.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong said this was due to Malaysia’s close relationship with other countries, especially China, which led to huge business potential.
“Malaysia has trade relationships with 60 countries, which brought in a total trade of RM850 billion a year, with the largest chunk from China.
“People in Malaysia should grab every opportunity to venture into the global market, especially China.
“China is easy to do business with as we have many similarities, such as language and culture, making communication easy. This is how we have been able to penetrate China successfully for many years.”
With the participation of Malaysia in the Belt Road Initiative, he said the country would see more international trade in the region.
Wee was speaking at the launch of the 7th Malaysia-China Entrepreneur Conference (MCEC) here yesterday.
The annual event, held since 2011, is a platform for business representatives to share ideas on the principle of wide consultation, joint contribution, joint development and shared benefits from enterprises.
MCEC focuses on business matching, aiming at seven core areas of property and construction, agriculture, technology, services, manufacturing, halal product and healthcare, which are pertinent in exploring business opportunities with China.
For eight years since 2009, China continued to be Malaysia’s largest trading partner.
Last year, Malaysia’s trade with China increased by 4.4 per cent to RM240.91 billion.
Adding further, Wee said with the establishment of the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ), more small- and medium-sized enterprises would be created to capitalise on the convergence of exponential growth of the Internet economy and cross-border ecommerce.
“DTFZ will allow us to increase our local talent, expertise and productivity. We cannot rely on foreign workers.”
He urged Malaysians to equip themselves with correct and sufficient knowledge, such as on data analysis and artificial intelligence, as the country moved towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution.