Malaysian govt committed to protecting local
DESPITE DIGITAL economy adviser Jack Ma bringing in 16 mega corporations to the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) in Malaysia, the Malaysian government would still ensure the interests of local corporations, encourage local corporations to work with foreign corporations and assist small and medium enterprises to have market share in DFTZ, Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said.
While launching the International Federation of Forwarders Associations' (FIATA) World Congress 2017 held here, he said the Malaysia Airport Holdings Co would be allocating some land for small and medium enterprises (SME) from Malaysia.
Liow said currently the government is developing e-commerce in a progressive manner, targeting to reach US$3.4 billion in revenue by 2020. He hopes local logistic operators join in.
“With Ma and Ali Baba joining us, our e-commerce trade will develop rapidly.”
He said the e-commerce income in Malaysia was only $1.5 billion in 2014, far behind $279 billion in China, $271 billion in the United States, $158 billion in the European Union and $69 billion in Japan.
He also revealed that the logistics and trade blueprint, originally scheduled to be developed in three phases, would now be completed by this year following instructions from Prime Minister Najib Razak. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Abdul Rahman Dahlan, and Finance Minister II Johari Abdul Ghani have also been roped into the blueprint. Higher Education Ministry, Ministry of International Trade and Industry and other ministries would be providing support.
He said the task for the first phase was to remove bottlenecks and this has since been 85 per cent completed. The second phase involves expanding the domestic market while the third phase is to be develop into a regional hub.
Malaysia expects 4.8% in economic growth
Despite the global economic slowdown, Malaysia achieved economic growth of 4.2 per cent last year. Growth is estimated to be in the range of 4.4 per cent and 4.8 per cent this year. Many are confident of Malaysia’s economic performance.
“This is because we are currently implementing various transformation projects such as Pan Borneo Highway, East Coast Rail Line, Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail, light rail transit and others. I would be launching the Klang Valley Double Track Rail upgrade project. The project costs 1.4 billion ringgit ($310 million).”
Based on World Economic Forum report, public transport in Malaysia ranks 11th in the world. Once the projects are completed, Malaysia stands a chance to improve the ranking to the top 10 or even top five, he said.
