International Trade and Industry Minister attends WEF in Vietnam

KUALA LUMPUR: International Trade and Industry Minister Darell Leiking will share Malaysia’s experience in transforming the direction of production and manufacturing industries towards digitalisation, as well as learn best practices from other countries at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Asean 2018 .

The t h ree - day forum t hemed ‘Asean4.0: Entrepreneurship and the Fourth Industrial Revolution’ kicked off in Hanoi, Vietnam yesterday.

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said the participants would address strategic issues on three main pillars, namely Entrepreneurship to Craft New Approaches to Regional and Global Governance, Entrepreneurship to Drive Economic and Business Dynamism, and Entrepreneurship to Shape Social Inclusion.

Darell has been invited by the WEF to participate in a few sessions covering topics such as ‘ Trade in Trouble: Navigating Geo- Economic Tensions’, ‘Embracing Disruption: Asean’s Digital Future’ and ‘Accelerating Trade and Investment in Asia Pacific’, MITI said in a statement yesterday.

“Participation in the forum provides an opportunity for Malaysia to assure the global business community, especially from Asean countries and our dialogue

Participation in the forum provides an opportunity for Malaysia to assure the global business community, especially from Asean countries and our dialogue partners, of Malaysia’s commitment in making her the preferred destination for trade and investment. Ministry of International Trade and Industry statement

partners, of Malaysia’s commitment in making her the preferred destination for trade and investment.

“The networking sessions with regional businesses and foreign investors provide opportunities for Malaysia to attract quality investments with high value-added, capital-intensive and high-technology production into the country,” it said.

Other sideline meetings include bilateral and one- to- one meetings with trade ministers, Malaysian-based companies in Vietnam and global companies attending the forum such as Google, Nissan, Shire, IBM, and Agility.

Approximately 900 participants, including heads of state/government, government representatives, global corporate leaders and start- ups are expected to attend the forum.

There is also a sizeable presence of Malaysian private sector companies in the forum. Among the companies invited are CIMB Group, AirAsia, Petronas, Axiata, Astro, UEM Edgenta, and Catcha Group.

The WEF i s an indep endent international organisation for publicprivate cooperation, established four decades ago with a mission to improve the economic state of the world.

Besides its annual meeting in Davos held in January each year, the WEF also organises meetings at the regional level, for example in the Middle East, China, India, Latin America and North Africa. Malaysia was the first to host the WEF on Asean in 2016 and for this year, Vietnam has been selected as the host country.

The forum offers an ideal platform for greater col laboration between industry, government and civil society in shaping the future and tapping the full potential of Asean, a region with a population of 640 million people, of which more than half are under the age of 30. — Bernama