Malaysia needs to regain interaction with US to boost trade and investments — PM Najib

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia needs to regain its level of interaction with the United States to further boost trade and investments between both countries, says Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“Last year, trade between our countries amounted to nearly US$33 billion. While this is an improvement on recent years, it used to be considerably more in the past,” he said in his blog, Najibrazak.com.

He said there were huge opportunities for the two countries to explore and pointed out the great benefits to come from closer trade and investment ties.

The prime minister is currently on a three-day working visit to the US where he held talks with President Donald Trump at the White House.

Najib said last year alone, American companies brought in RM5 billion, or more than US$1 billion, of foreign direct investments (FDI) into Malaysia.

The US, he noted, was the fifth largest foreign investor in the country at RM36 billion or US$8.5 billion worth of FDI stock.

“Malaysia is uniquely positioned as a gateway to the ASEAN market of 625 million people, and to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership which – when concluded – will cover 50 per cent of the world’s population and over 30 per cent of global gross domestic product.

“Many in the international business community are already taking advantage of our strategic position, our young, motivated, English-speaking workforce, business-friendly policies, and these companies are voting with their feet,” he said.