HSBC Forecasts Malaysia's Trade To Grow By 139.37 Pct From 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, April 24 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s trade is projected to grow 139.37 per cent from this year to 2026, says the HSBC Global Connections Trade Forecast. HSBC Trade Connections Trade Forecast predicts how trade is going to develop over the next five, 10 and 15 years. It forecasts overall trade growth, including exports, imports and total trade globally, regionally and individual countries. The Trade Forecast predicts that trade in Malaysia will grow at an annualised rate of 3.3 per cent over the next five years, from 2012 to 2016, and that it will continue to increase its trade substantially, subsequently with an annualised growth rate of 6.85 per cent from 2017 to 2021. It is expected that Malaysia’s annual growth will be higher than the average for the world. HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd Director, Global Trade and Receivables Finance, Ng Wei Wei said: "HSBC’s research findings suggest that despite the current economic uncertainty and global market pressures, the nation’s underlying fundamentals are strong.” “Malaysia continues to be a key emerging market with good trade performance and a stable domestic demand, fuelled by the implementation of initiatives under the Malaysian government’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), which continues to boost the country’s business environment,” she said. Ng said export trade with China is forecast to grow at an annual rate of 8.33 per cent, with Indonesia at 6.53 per cent and Singapore at 4.91 per cent over the next five years. Malaysia’s largest import partners are China, Japan and Singapore; and the Trade Forecast predicts that the import growth from 2012 to 2016 for China will be at 5.92 per cent, Japan at 4.69 per cent and Singapore at 4.51 per cent annually. "Trade patterns, especially in exports, reinforce just how central Malaysia is to the Asia-Pacific supply chain whilst the dominance of Asia-Pacific countries as growing import partners demonstrates the importance of our country in the region’s trade profile,” she added. -- BERNAMA