KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 10
(Bernama) — Bilateral trade between Taiwan and Malaysia is expected to
be at US$10 billion this year, a decrease from the US$12.3 billion
posted in 2008.
According to the Taipei Economic and Culture Office in Malaysia, this is due to the global financial crisis.
“The decrease is not much as the Taiwanese government has been
trying to help local manufacturers continue exporting while providing
opportunities to promote their products,” its director of the economic
division, Lin Min-Li said on Monday.
In 2008, Taiwan’s imports from Malaysia were at US$6.8 billion while exports stood at US$5.5 billion.
“In terms of the food trade last year, Taiwan exported products
worth US$48 million to Malaysia. This means there is a bigger space for
growth in the food trade between the two countries,” Lin told reporters
at the launch of the Taiwan Deep Sea Water product, here.
Also present was the director of the Taiwan Trade Center, Inc
Kuala Lumpur Representative Office, Jeffrey Chu and manager of Mariana
Biotech Co Ltd,Rachel Chen.
The launch was held in conjunction with the Food and Hotel
Malaysia 2009 (FHM09)exhibition, from Aug 11-14 at the Kuala Lumpur
Convention Centre.
The event is a platform to showcase the hospitality and food and
beverage industry. It also gives industry professionals an opportunity
to source and exchange information.
Lin said Malaysia’s commitment towards halal development also
provides potential opportunities for Taiwanese companies to penetrate
the huge market of a 1.5 billion Muslim population.
Besides that, Lin said the Taiwanese government was also helping
and encouraging investors to look at five important markets in South
East Asia– the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
“Among the five countries, Malaysia is the most successful for
investment. We prefer Malaysia due to the stable political climate, as
well as good manufactured products.
“There is still room for Taiwanese investors to come to Malaysia,” he added.
According to Lin, Taiwan ranked number three in terms of foreign
direct investment in Malaysia for the first five months of this year.
On the FHM09 — the tenth in its series — Lin said that it would
witness the largest ever delegations from Taiwan in line with the
government’s efforts to help local businesses find new, international
markets.
“I hope the four-day exhibition will provide more opportunities to grow the food trade between Taiwan and Malaysia,” he added.
As for the Taiwan Deep Sea Water product, it is produced by Mariana Biotech Co Ltd and Kung-Long Biotech Co Ltd.
Deep sea water is extracted from 200 metres below sea level.
At present, deep sea water is only available in three places in
the world — the east coast of Taiwan, Japan and Hawaii in the United
States.
Elaborating on the product, Chen said the company was looking for one or two Malaysian agents to distribute it.
–BERNAMA
