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11th March, 2010
HAMBURG (Germany): Germany’s continuous flow of investments in hi-tech industries will help realise Malaysia’s aspirations to emerge a developed nation in less than 10 years.
Malaysia’s emergence as an advanced nation will, among others, be thrust upon on highly-skilled human capital, said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
The minister, who is here on the second leg of his trade and investment mission to Europe, said Malaysia was keen to attract more German investments in the hi-tech industrial sector.
Germany is known for its hi-tech expertise in the automotive and aviation sectors as well as in maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services of aeroplanes.
He said incentives tailored to investors’ needs, particulary to German companies engaged in specialised fields, would be focused on hi-tech skilled manpower.
“Malaysia can no longer provide cheap labour anymore. In fact, we ourselves are relying on foreign manpower. We are moving towards a high-income economy,” he said, adding that Malaysia wants to be involved in technology transfer in specialised fields with Germany.
Germany is Malaysia’s biggest trade partner in the 27-member European Union (EU), with total trade amounting to US$9.45 billion (RM33.3 billion) or 30 per cent of the total trade with the EU.
Germany is also the second biggest export destination among EU member countries, with total exports at US$4.21 billion, accounting for 24.7 per cent total exports to EU.
As of December last year, German companies implemented 320 projects worth US$5.8 billion (RM20.4 bilion) in Malaysia. Their main investment areas were petroleum and petrochemical products; electrical and electronics; chemical and chemical products; metal-based products and rubber products.
Currently, there are over 350 German companies operating in Malaysia, with Behn Mayer being the first to set base in 1891. Besides Siemens, Robert Bosch, BMW, Deutsche Bank, Allianz, OSRAM are also in Malaysia.
Mustapa’s eight-day mission to three European cities started in Amsterdam four days ago and will end in Birmingham, the United Kingdom, on Saturday.
The Malaysian delegation comprises senior officials from the International Trade and Industry Ministry, state governments; Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA); the private sector; Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA); and Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE).
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