Awang Tengah said Sarawak recorded trade totalling RM217.2 billion last year.
KUCHING (May 24): Sarawak recorded a trade surplus of RM88.2 billion in 2022, said Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.
The Minister for International Trade, Industry and Investment said this was an increase of 67.3 per cent compared to the 2021 trade surplus of RM52.7 billion.
The state recorded trade totalling RM217.2 billion last year from RM150.9 billion in 2021 – an increase of 43.9 per cent, he said.
“Total exports increased 50 per cent to RM152.7 billion in 2022 from RM101.8 billion in 2021 for items such as LNG (liquefied natural gas), palm oil, crude oil, and aluminium.
“Meanwhile, total imports increased 31.4 per cent to RM64.5 billion from RM49.1 billion in 2021 for the top import products such as chemical products, refined petroleum products, aluminium ores, motorcars, and fertiliser,” he told the august House during his ministerial winding up speech today.
Awang Tengah said the state’s top trading partners in 2022 were Japan, China, Peninsular Malaysia, South Korea, India, Australia, and Singapore.
He added that the establishment of InvestSarawak and the Sarawak Trade and Tourism Offices in Singapore and soon in Brunei and Kalimantan, Indonesia will further assist the state’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to explore and expand their markets beyond Sarawak’s shores.
“I would also like to urge our business communities, especially export oriented SMEs, to leverage on Malaysia’s membership in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to optimise their costs so that their products can be more competitive in regional and global markets.”