ID :
408155
Mon, 05/30/2016 - 11:56
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Malaysia's Selangor State Promotes Halal, E-Commerce To Entice Investors From China

By Samantha Tan Chiew Ting BEIJING, May 30 (Bernama) -- Invest Selangor Bhd is focusing on e-commerce and halal promotion to further attract foreign investors, especially from China, the world's second largest economy. Chief executive officer Hasan Azhari Idris said China is a market with vast opportunities. "However, Invest Selangor is promoting niche industries to Chinese companies, namely in halal and e-commerce. "The halal industry offers the biggest potential for Chinese companies to tap. They face difficulties getting certification. So, they can set up a processing plant in Selangor and get Malaysia's halal certification, which is widely recognised in the world," he added. Hasan Azhari told Bernama following a presentation at a seminar on business opportunities offered by Selangor at the China-Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), here Monday. The investment arm of the Malaysia's Selangor state government is on a week-long investment mission to China, covering Beijing, Yinchuan (the capital of Ningxia Hui autonomous region), Xi'an (the capital of Shaanxi province), Chengdu and Mianyang in Sichuan province. The delegation of eight officials is led by Selangor Investment Committee Chairman for Industry and Commerce, Small and Medium Enterprises and Transportation, Teng Chang Khim. Hasan Azhari said there is also huge potential in high technology industries and rising labour costs in China posed advantages for Malaysia. He said Malaysian companies should take advantage of the rising labour costs in China to attract more Chinese companies to set up their businesses in Selangor and Malaysia. Furthermore, Hasan Azhari said Selangor had not only attracted investments from China, but also provided a springboard to ASEAN markets with a population of 625 million people. Although, the top three investors in Selangor are from Japan, Singapore and the United States, Hasan Azhari believed the state's intensified promotion efforts with the focus on five key clusters would further attract investors from China. The clusters are electrical and electronics (E&E), transport equipment, life sciences, food and beverages (F&B) manufacturing as well as machinery and equipment (M&E). Meanwhile, Teng said the mission trip focused on two objectives, namely promoting Selangor as the business gateway and welcome Chinese firms to participate in the upcoming Selangor International Expo 2016 from Oct 20-22. He said the second edition of the Expo targets 700 booths with about 50-60 per cent sold, following the successful inaugural event last year which had 400 booths. Teng said Selangor is promoting e-commerce, as the industry is well developed in China, but entrepreneurs there have yet to venture outside the country. "There are opportunities due to Selangor's strategic location. We are trying to entice the Chinese entrepreneurs to come and make Selangor their base to expand businesses into ASEAN, Asia as well as globally," he added. At the same time, Teng said Selangor is also introducing Halal International Selangor, a new platform to simplify the process of getting halal recognition. --BERNAMA

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