Caption: Teh Win Sern (first row from left), Kevin Siah, Loo Kok Seong, Teh Eng Hin, Dato’ Lim Shong Thai, Xu Xiwen and Tan Keng Joo urges Malaysian entrepreneurs to attend the conference.
27 May 2018
Penang: President of Malaysian-China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) Penang branch, Teh Eng Hin, pointed out that under the new global economic development situation, the economic and trade cooperation between Malaysia and China are facing an important period of opportunity. SMEs has become the source in promoting bilateral economic and trade relations between Malaysia and China.
Teh said that China’s economic development has now entered another stage, and labour costs are not its competitive advantages. Many foreign-funded enterprises have shifted from China to Southeast Asian countries. China has transformed from a capital-importing country to a capital-exporting country. And Southeast Asian countries surrounding China have become one of the main targets of China’s capital cycle.
“In this development trend, Malaysia needs to seize the opportunity to invest more resources and time. We cannot just say that ‘ASEAN has great potential’, but must turn it into a reality,” Teh said this in the 2018 General Assembly meeting this Sunday.
Teh said that as China’s manufacturing industry moves towards the upper end of the value chain, labour-intensive enterprises have turned to ASEAN countries and have promoted the economic development of these countries. In attracting foreign investment, China and ASEAN used to be competitors. At present, the two are at different stages of the value chain.
“However, ASEAN has surpassed the total of China and India. Since ASEAN countries have a relatively young workforce, this development momentum may continue for many years,” Teh said.
Teh emphasised that Malaysia and China have a very large commercial opportunity in terms of infrastructure co-operation, such as the high-speed rail (HSR) and industrial parks. Therefore, it is hoped that the Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, will review the large-scale investment projects based on national interests. At the same time, we must also discuss the development and potential of future cooperation to create a mutually beneficial development.
Teh admitted that Malaysia’s economic and financial conditions have experienced a serious deficit, which has caused uneasiness to domestic and foreign entrepreneurs and investors. Therefore, the national economic policy system must be reformed and restructured in a timely manner to ease the mind of the business people and foreign investors.
The First Vice President of the MCCC, Loo Kok Seong, said that the 8th Malaysia-China Entrepreneur Conference (MCEC 2018) is a branded event of the Association. Each year, China and Malaysia will take turn in hosting the conference. Loo said that a total of 1,500 participants took part last year. In order to make the activities appear more pragmatic this year, the organisers of Malaysia and China only allow 200 entrepreneurs respectively to attend and will look for companies with potential.
Loo mentioned that the MCEC 2018 will be held in Nanjing on September 19. Interested entrepreneurs can register with Penang Branch. Due to the limited number of places, interested entrepreneurs are urged to register early.
In addition, the Malaysia International Inno-Tech Expo (MIIE) will be held in Kuala Lumpur from 23-25 November.
Source: Kwong Wah Yit Poh, May 27, 2018
