Tengku Zafrul: Malaysia's trade performance on track to hit growth target

Malaysian Reserve

15-07-2025

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia's trade performance for this year remains within expectations and is on track to reach the target growth of four to five per cent, said Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz (picture).
Nevertheless, Tengku Zafrul said the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) expects global trade to moderate in the second half of 2025 (2H 2025) amid ongoing uncertainties.
'Yes, there is some front-loading, especially in the last five months, but at the same time, given the Aug 1 deadline (for US tariff), we expect the (moderation) to continue.
'We are going to issue the latest trade numbers for June on Friday, and what is important is that Malaysia's trade performance is still within expectations,' he told a press conference on MITI's report card for the second quarter of 2025.
Tengku Zafrul noted that the projection by Bank Negara Malaysia for trade growth is around five per cent this year, while the Ministry of Finance has projected about 3.9 per cent. 'We will continue to focus on achieving (those) targets,' he said.
Earlier during the report card presentation, Tengku Zafrul highlighted that the country has been gathering a total of RM25.6 billion in potential investments and RM30.8 billion in potential exports from the trade and investment missions held to date.
Malaysia has also recently inked new free trade agreements with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in June, which is expected to reach a total of RM14.4 billion in trade with the EFTA market.
Meanwhile, on the tariff negotiation with the United States, Tengku Zafrul said his ministry is now looking at tariff and non-tariff related matters that can be agreed upon by both parties.
'I have set a deadline for the negotiation team, and there are issues that we still need time for because they involve many agencies and ministries. We are trying to conclude it before US President Donald Trump's tariff deadline on Aug 1st.
'We are doing the calculations as well on what the impact is to our export and the impact to the government's revenue as well. We will continue to have another discussion this week and accelerate the discussion until the end of this month,' he added.
Tengku Zafrul noted that some concerns on non-tariff issues have been addressed by MITI through the implementation of the Strategic Trade Act 2010 (STA 2010), while 'red line' issues, such as those related to the equity interest in certain sectors, need to be studied carefully.
'As you know, Malaysia has equity restrictions for foreign shareholders for certain sectors, so there is a request for us to relook at or liberalise those sectors. Many countries have also been asked to do the same.
'For us, we need to consult the industries whether we are ready to liberalise those equity shareholding restrictions, especially when it comes to foreign equity restrictions that we have for many sectors. So we need to study carefully what the impact is,' he said. — BERNAMA