Many unexplored trade opportunities with Senegal — MITI

KUALA LUMPUR: Opportunities to increase trade between Malaysia and Senegal in many sectors remain unexplored, says Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Dr Ong Kian Ming.

He said Malaysian and Senegalese companies should take hold of these untapped areas to explore partnerships.

“This should not be confined to traditional merchandise but also new products such as automotive components, food ingredients and pharmaceutical products,” Ong told reporters after officiating the launch of the Trade and Investment Opportunities in Senegal seminar yesterday.

He said from January-May 2018, trade with Senegal amounted to RM130.4 million, a decrease of 27.8 per cent from the previous corresponding period in 2017, while exports and imports declined by 26.8 per cent and 57.7 per cent, respectively.

“It is important to monitor the long-term trend of the trade relationship between Malaysia and Senegal in order to increase bilateral trade for the second half of this year and beyond,” Ong added.

In 2017, bilateral trade with Senegal rose 42.9 per cent to RM372.6 million from 2016, positioning Senegal as Malaysia’s 24th largest trading partner among African countries.

“With the specialised trade missions and business matching organised by the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) and other agencies in the upcoming month, we hope this will help to keep momentum ongoing in terms of promoting bilateral trade.

“This is a very good strategy for us to diversify our markets, especially in the context where there will be some trade divergence happening as a result of a trade war…so we have to be proactive to seek out new markets in a huge continent such as Africa,” he said.

Ong said the few Malaysian companies in Senegal include Iris Corporation Bhd, a digital identity and business solutions company which won a contract in 2016 to supply 10 million biometric identification cards over five years.

MATRADE deputy chief executive Officer Datuk Wan Latiff Wan Musa said the agency would continue to provide platforms to Malaysian companies to better understand and capitalise on the opportunities in Africa.

“For Africa, we have identified a lot of opportunities for Malaysian service providers in areas such as infrastructure and development projects.

“Over the years, we can see there is growing interest from Malaysian companies to supply their products and services to the market,” he said.

Meanwhile, Minister for the Promotion of Investments, Partnerships and Development of State Teleservices of Senegal, Khoudia Mbaye, said Malaysia is viewed as a model emerging market with its strategic location at the centre with many Asean countries surrounding it being advantageous to Senegal.

“In Senegal, the latest sector we are looking at is the Oil and Gas (O&G) industry as it is a new business for us… Since Malaysia has done well in the sector, we hope to learn the expertise and technicalities from them.

“We have also identified authorisation mechanisms for important incentives to revive certain strategic sectors such as agriculture, tourism and Small and Medium Enterprises,” she added.

She said at the same time, an ambitious plan to upgrade the road, port and airport infrastructure has been drawn up to strengthen the competitiveness of Senegal’s economy.

“Malaysian companies should not waste the chances to explore more in these sectors,” she said.

Senegal is a stable, democratic and peaceful West African country that embraces the rule of law with French as the official language. Nevertheless, English and other native languages are also spoken and recognised. — Bernama