KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia and China have agreed to activate the Economic Cooperation Working Group (ECWG), which was established under the Five Year Programme for Economic and Trade Cooperation signed in 2013.
The group’s objective is to oversee the smooth implementation and facilitation of the on-going projects under the five-year programme, after both countries noted good progress and strategic importance of the programme, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said in a statement today.
It said the decision was made at the 10th Joint Economic and Trade Commission Meeting between both countries in Beijing on Sept 8, at which the programme was one of the key agenda.
The meeting was co-chaired by Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed and China’s Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng.
“The meeting also noted the satisfactory development and implementation of the projects under the Two Countries Twin Parks initiative (Kuantan in Malaysia and Qinzhou in China) and agreed to assist in addressing impediments faced by businesses on the ground and facilitate the implementation process,” it said.
Mustapa also requested his counterpart’s assistance to facilitate Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) in obtaining business registration from the Beijing Administration of Industry and Commerce as a result of the recent restructuring of Malaysian Airline System.
On the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), MITI said both countries agreed to work closely in speeding up the progress of negotiations towards substantial conclusion by end-2015.
“In this respect, the Ministers noted the short time frame before the 10th RCEP Round in Busan, South Korea in October 2015 and tasked their senior officials to intensify efforts in addressing the challenges and deliver a good outcome.
“China expressed its commitment to working closely with Malaysia for a substantial conclusion of the RCEP as one of the deliverables for the Leaders ASEAN Summit scheduled for end-2015,” it said.
Mustapa also officially opened the new Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) Beijing office located in Chaoyang district, a vibrant financial and business centre.
“The new office will complement MIDA’s offices in Shanghai and Guangzhou, and will cater to Chinese businesses headquartered in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and the surrounding provinces,” MITI said.
Last year, total bilateral trade between Malaysia and China was US$101.98 billion.
Based on China’s Ministry of Commerce data, Malaysia’s investments in China last year totalled US$6.6 billion while Chinese investments in Malaysia amounted to US$1.6 billion. – BERNAMA