Germany picks Malaysia as trade hub amid US-China tensions, PM says

 

PARLIAMENT | Germany has chosen Malaysia as one of its hubs for trade and export amid the ongoing trade war between the United States and China, said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

This, Anwar said, was due to Germany’s foreign policy, where it is working to de-risk economic relations with China.

“This (de-risk) means to reduce Germany’s risks from depending on China, and therefore, they are picking other countries,” he said during Prime Minister’s Question Time today.

“This will help us. That’s why in recent months, we have seen a surge in the arrivals of trade ministers from other countries to ours.

“This week itself, the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry is receiving the arrival of two, three trade ministers who will come to seek for the free trade agreements or FTAs with the EU to be sped up,” he added.

Anwar (Harapan-Tambun) was responding to a supplementary question from Jimmy Puah (Harapan-Tebrau), who asked if Malaysia could take advantage of the current US-China trade war.

In addition, Anwar reiterated that Malaysia has gained traction as an investment hub due to the country’s stable political arena as well as clear Madani economic policies.

“Be it domestic or foreign investors, they want to see (if the economic policies are) clear or otherwise.

“We have an industrial plan, a national energy transition plan, a digital transformation plan and a food security programme.

“So, they know. Before meeting us, we have already laid out our economic framework,” he said.