Wrapping up his official visit to China on Monday, Malaysian
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi urged the business communities
of Malaysia and China to play a more active role in strengthening
partnerships between the two countries.
"We must reinforce diplomatic links with strategic economic
cooperation and integration that can harness our collective
resources to generate growth and prosperity for our peoples," said
Badawi. "To ensure long-term success and prosperity, Malaysia and
China must invest in one another's future."
The prime minister was addressing a high-profile business forum
held in Shanghai, attended by several hundred business leaders and
delegates from China and Malaysia.
Badawi maintains that trade alone is not a sufficiently strong
platform for a true partnership, even though Malaysia now stands as
China's largest trading partner among Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) economies. The two countries' total bilateral
trade surged from US$1.2 billion in 1990 to US$13.2 billion last
year.
The prime minister urged Malaysia's business community to seek
growth opportunities in China based on a more sophisticated
understanding and appreciation of the market, and called upon
Chinese companies to make the best of Malaysia's skills base and
resources as well as its location as a gateway to the Southeast
Asian market and beyond.
From 1996 to 2003, Malaysia's investments in China reached
US$3.1 billion.
China's cumulative investments in Malaysia's manufacturing
sector from 1980 to 2003 totaled US$1.1 billion.
Badawi suggested that Malaysia's natural gas might top the list
of potential areas for strategic business partnerships, given
China's growing energy demands in recent years.
One of the world's biggest liquefied natural gas suppliers,
Malaysia's national oil corporation, PETRONAS, operates the largest
LNG production facility on the globe. Located in Bintulu, Sarawak,
it produces 23 million tons annually. Malaysia is also currently
the world's largest owner and operator of LNG tankers.
Some Chinese companies have already recognized the
opportunities. Tianfa Petroleum Company, based in central China’s
Hubei Province, has reportedly been in contact with PETRONAS to
discuss possible cooperation.
Badawi pointed out that there are "bountiful" opportunities for
the two countries to collaborate in areas like food production,
agro-industries, biotechnology, hardware and software development,
high-end electronics, communications, and even media and
broadcasting operations.
The entry of Chinese companies into the Southeast Asian market
through Malaysia would contribute greatly to making the ASEAN-China
Free Trade Zone vision a reality within 10 years, said Badawi.
China officially joined the Southeast Asia Friendship and
Cooperation Treaty last year.
Chinese and Malaysian leaders exchanged congratulatory messages
Monday to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of
diplomatic relations.
(China Daily June 1, 2004)