Malaysian officials: CIIE important and beneficial to ASEAN countries

The China International Import Expo is probably the most important international expo to date due to China's stance as the largest manufacturing base in the world, Lim Guan Eng, Malaysian Minister of Finance, told People's Daily Online in a recent interview.

Malaysian Minister of Finance, Lim Guan Eng. (Photo/Wei Zhuoxin)

Guan explained that the expo is of enormous importance to Malaysian business not only thanks to China's colossal manufacturing abilities, but also due to the fact China is going high-tech, especially in terms of AI and robotics.

Datuk Bahria Mohd Tamil is a senior director of the Bilateral Economic and Trade Relations Division of Malaysia's Ministry of International Trade and Industry.  Talking to a group of journalists recently, she said, “CIIE is, for me, one of the most important starting points for China with other countries. With this kind of program, China is saying that it is so strong and that it is willing to promote other countries' products.”

Datuk Bahria Mohd Tamil(C), Senior Director of the Bilateral Economic and Trade Relations Division of Malaysia's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. (Photo/Liu Ning)

Guan added that he believes this expo will be beneficial, not only to Malaysia and China, but also to other ASEAN countries. He explains, “When you trade together and earn money together, you become more successful together.”

Echoing Guan's point, Unny Sankar Ravi Sankar, Director of Belt and Road National Secretariat Malaysia, explained that China should look at Malaysia as the gateway to ASEAN.“Malaysia strongly feels that the CIIE will provide opportunities for ASEAN member countries and China should look at Malaysia as a stepping stone to ASEAN.”

On Malaysia's current trade with China, Guan says that he's happy with the way things are already, but events like the CIIE will help push business further between the two countries. He explains, “China's our largest trading partner. We are very comfortable with the relationship between China and Malaysia, but like all relationships, it can always be improved. We want to have closer ties; we want more people-to-people interaction, we want to have more business investments here.”

The first ever China International Import Expo, which will run from Nov. 5 – 10 in Shanghai, will focus on high-end and intelligent equipment. Sankar concludes, “Since the CIIE focuses on high-end products, investors can also look at downstream products that can be sourced from Malaysia.”