Ministry to finalise draft agreement on boosting trade with Czech Republic

KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) is expected to finalise the draft agreement on increasing economic cooperation with the Czech Republic this year. Its minister Mustapa Mohamed said the ministry is in the final stage of discussions on the draft and its legal department is studying the draft. "Once the agreement on the economic cooperation is sealed, we believe it will help boost economic relations between the two countries," he told reporters at the Czech-Malaysia Trade and Investment Partnership Forum here on Friday. Mustapa said East European countries such as the Czech Republic which were previously under the influence of the Soviet Union offer big potential in economic cooperation particularly in the engineering and automotive sectors. "Last year, the republic produced 1.2 million vehicles of which the majority were exported," he said. He said there were opportunities for the car industry in Malaysia to forge closer ties with the republic to improve efficiency, productivity and be competitive. Mustapa said the Czech Republic considers Malaysia as an alternative market to the European market which currently makes up 83 per cent of its trade. "They see Malaysia as a fast developing country and wish to have trade and investment ties with us," he said. Bilateral trade in the last ten years increased by an average of 20 per cent annually. Last year, bilateral trade rose by 60 per cent to US$573 million. -- BERNAMA