Malaysia's Trade With China's Muslim Provinces Up 28.3 Pct To US$143.5 Mln

By Niam Seet Wei YINCHUAN (China), Sept 12 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's trade with China’s Muslim provinces reached US$143.5 million (about RM441.26 million) in 2011, up 28.3 per cent from the previous year. Malaysia's special envoy to China, Ong Ka Ting, said China was Malaysia’s biggest export market for Islamic products in 2011, valued at RM4.1 billion (US$1.34 billion), while the Chinese Islamic market was valued at US$2.1 billion, growing at 10 per cent per annum. "Trade between Malaysia and Ningxia, China rose to US$65.76 million in 2011, which is the highest among all Muslim provinces in China. "As this is only 0.16 per cent of the bilateral trade between China and Malaysia, there is ample room for improvement," he said here Tuesday. Ong said this at the annual meeting between China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and Malaysia-China Business Council (MCBC) and the 2012 China (Ningxia)-Malaysia International Investment and Trade Forum. Ong, who is also chairman of MCBC, said Malaysia’s 'halal certification' and Islamic industry had long become part of its branding and national image. "The global Muslim population has grown to 1.8 billion and the global Islamic products and services are worth US$20,000 billion. There is thus tremendous potential for growth," he said. He said Malaysian and Chinese enterprises, especially those in Ningxia, were well-equipped to explore and develop Islamic industry on par with international standard to make inroads into the global Islamic market. Ong said Malaysia’s strength was not only in halal certification but also in production, marketing and promotion. "We believe that with our strong credibility, we will be able to work out with our Chinese entrepreneurs business operations and certification procedures according to the Islamic standard," he said. Ong is leading about 50 delegates from Malaysia to attend the forum, which is held in conjunction with The 2012 China (Ningxia) International Investment and Trade Fair & the 3rd China-Arab States Economic and Trade Forum. -- BERNAMA