Malaysia In Position Of Advantage To Give Economy A Boost

By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 (Bernama) - Malaysia is in the primary position of advantage to stamp its mark in ASEAN history, as it will be able to advocate matters that are favourable to its domestic economy. The position of ASEAN chair and the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will unleash its potentials to be in the forefront of the ASEAN economy by leveraging on its domestic and the sound infrastructure strengths. With an ASEAN population 625 million and an economy of US$2.4 trillion, which is the seventh largest in the world, the region offers a huge opportunity for Malaysia, especially the private sector, to tap and continuously grow. ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) general manager, Syed Nabil Aljeffri, said with Malaysia's open door economy, it is easier to galvanise the private sector to cross borders within ASEAN. "For intra-ASEAN trade to work on a domestic environment basis, first we have to get out of our comfort zone by getting to understand our neighbours' environments in doing business, because this is what AEC aims to do -- to integrate the economy to becoming a single economic block," he told Bernama. Take Thailand's role as the motor vehicle hub in the region. Other ASEAN countries need not compete to be another one, but instead complement Thailand by being part of the supply chain of the industry, he said. He said furthermore, as Thailand will be able to offer cheaper labour and raw materials, Malaysia, on the converse, will have its own advantage of providing the connectivity through information and communications technology (ICT). That will become an investment opportunity for Malaysia, as its regulatory and standard practices, ICT knowledge and ease of doing business can be shared with other countries including Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and the Phillipines, he said. "ICT is the single most powerful tool to connect ASEAN’s private sector as it provides multiple opportunities easily," said Syed Nabil. Malaysia was ranked 18th in the Ease of Doing Business Report 2015 by World Bank and the second after Singapore in South-East Asia. In addition, the multi-lateral free trade agreements (FTAs), including the negotiations of the ASEAN-Hong Kong FTA and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), will also create a huge market and entrepreneurship openings as well as developments for Malaysia to advance in investment opportunities. He said foreign businessmen always complained of the difficulties, like economic barriers, of doing business in ASEAN. The best way to overcome them is to form joint ventures (JVs), he said. "Form a JV. This is how it works -- you and I agree, we can do something for the mutual benefit," he said. He said forming JVs would be one of the key efforts to be introduced in the post-2015 Small and Medium Enterprises Strategic Action Plan. "The approach is the right way to go because a local partner would able to understand the market better in terms of harmonising the regulations and language among others, to ensure a seamless movement people and the business," he said. However, it will be up to the policymakers and leaders to decide and create a conducive environment for business to talk and merge with each other, he said. -- BERNAMA