KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is optimistic of registering a growth of between one and two per cent in its total trade this year despite the World Trade Organisation sharply revising its global trade forecast for 2016.
Deputy International Trade and Industry Datuk Chua Tee Yong said the ministry are aware of future challenges but it would work with the other government agencies, including the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade), to assist Malaysian companies especially on export matters.
“I think the WTO has actually downgraded the growth outlook for total trade from 2.8 per cent, previously, to 1.7 per cent.
“There are countries that are posting slower growth but Malaysia has still remained slightly positive.
“Therefore, we believe that we will achieve a positive figure by year-end,” he told reporters after the launch of Graphene Malaysia 2016 event here yesterday.
In the 2017 Budget, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Malaysia’s total trade was expected to reach RM1.5 trillion.
The WTO warned that growth had hit its slowest pace since the global financial crisis and estimated that global trade would grow by just 1.7 per cent in 2016 compared with its April projection of 2.8 per cent.
Malaysia’s trade surplus in September 2016 declined 21.6 per cent, year-on-year, (y-o-y) to RM7.6 billion while total trade declined 1.6 per cent during the same period to RM128.5 billion. — Bernama