Ministry revises downwards 2013 trade growth outlook to 3-4%

by **Cals** Tue 25 Jun 2013, 01:26

Business & Markets 2013

Written by Bernama

Monday, 24 June 2013 18:04

KUALA LUMPUR (June 24): The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has revised downwards, Malaysia's external trade growth projection for this year, to between three and four percent.

The revision is in line with Bank Negara Malaysia's prediction.

Its Minister, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the ministry had initially projected an expansion of between four and five per cent.

"For the first four months of 2013, trade only grew by 1.8%. So, it is somewhat close to Bank Negara's prediction.

"There are tough challenges ahead for us to achieve the initial target," he told reporters after launching the MITI Annual Report 2012 here today.

Mustapa said the unresolved gloomy economic environment in the United States and Europe, as well as lower commodity prices, would be the main challenges, moving forward.

"We hope for the second half of this year to be more encouraging, in the sense of improved commodity prices, which would increase our sales numbers," he added.

Last year, Malaysia's total trade increased by three per cent to record RM1.31 trillion, when compared with the RM1.27 trillion in 2011.

Exports increased by 0.6% for a new high of RM702.2 billion, while imports added 5.9% to RM607.4 billion, in contrast to 2011.

For the first quarter of this year, total trade increased by 1.5% to register RM322.4 billion, compared to the same period last year.

The trade surplus stood at RM16.55 billion for the three-months under review.

Moving forward, Mustapa said Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection of between five to six percent, is expected to be continuously driven by domestic demand.

Private consumption, he added, is expected to remain strong with most sectors continuing to grow moderately.

"We are moving away from a purely manufacturing-based economy to one of high value-added, requiring investments in high-impact innovation areas such as bio-TECHNOLOGY [], green technology and also services such as Islamic finance and medical tourism.

"Private investment is projected to grow at 12.8% per annum over the next five years, as indicated in the Tenth Malaysia Plan," he said.

Mustapa said this year, a MITI focus is the African market, through creating demand and strengthening Malaysia's products and services' brands via such activities as Project Africa, specialised marketing missions and incoming buying missions.