Sarawak eyes having trade office in Bangkok – Abg Jo
The Sarawak government will consider setting up a trade office in Bangkok, says Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
However, this proposal would very much depend on the trade volume between Sarawak and Thailand over the next couple of years.
“If the trade volume is big and the business volume is big, then we may consider – but not now. It is (still) premature,” he told reporters after launching ‘Bridging Trade and Investment Relations between Thailand and East Malaysia (Sarawak) Trade Forum 2019 and Business Matching’ at Pullman Hotel here yesterday.
According to Abang Johari, Sarawak is looking at establishing trade offices in Pontianak and Brunei, following the setting-up of its inaugural office in Singapore.
“Pontianak is in the plan. The next one ‘lah’, after Singapore,” he said, adding that the establishment of the Brunei office would come after Pontianak’s.
Asked how soon the trade office in Pontianak and Brunei would be set up, the chief minister said: “Within these two years. Actually it is within negotiation.”
At the launch earlier, Ambassador of Thailand to Malaysia Narong Sasitorn pointed out Malaysia as the kingdom’s largest trading partner in Asean, representing a trade volume worth US$25 billion.
“Being the (respective) second and third largest economies in Asean, we Thailand and Malaysia have the size and the volume. We believe that if we continued to facilitate and liberalise our economic ties, we could achieve a far greater number.”
On Sarawak, Sasitorn viewed it as ‘a major player in the Malaysian economy’.
“You (Sarawak) have all what it takes to achieve your plan of becoming a developed economy by year 2030 — if not before.