Malaysia to be more aggressive in boosting export of services

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will take more aggressive steps to encourage export of services, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said.

Speaking at a press conference after the launch of Miti Report 2016 yesterday, Mustapa said currently the electrical and electronics products is still the biggest contributor in the country’s exports, noting that 35% of the growth came from this sector.

“But we need to diversify and we can’t depend on only two or three products. We need to look into exports in a bigger context.

“We have many talent in Malaysia, not only in creative media (sector) but also construction and engineering services, architecture, as well as legal services,” he noted.

According to HSBC’s recent trade report, the country’s service exports growth is expected to average over 8% every year from 2016 until 2030, driven by the strong growth in tourism sector. The report disclosed that service exports accounted more than 16% of total exports in 2015.

Based on Miti’s 2016 report, Malaysia’s exports rose 1.1% to RM785.93 billion last year, with a total trade value of RM1.48 trillion, resulting in a trade surplus of RM87.27 billion.

Earlier, Mustapa said the ministry maintained its 5% growth forecast for the total trade this year, from 1.5% growth recorded in 2016.

He said although total trade grew 23.6% in the first four months this year, there is no guarantee that the growth momentum will be sustained for the rest of the year, due to some uncertainties and geopolitical challenges.