KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 — Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali today said that Malaysia is a prime gateway to the Asean market by virtue of its favourable business environment, good infrastructure, talent pool and a stable political climate.
He said it is significant that Malaysia became one of the first countries to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and focused on investments from China.
“China has been one of the biggest contributors to Malaysia’s foreign direct investments.
“Within the multilateral perspective of BRI, Malaysia aspires to play a productive role in policy connectivity in enhancing synergy of rules and regulations for high quality, high standards and performance,” he said at the Thematic Forum on Policy Connectivity of the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing.
Azmin said as a measure of this, investments from the Asia Pacific region as well as from the European Union including Nordic countries have been growing over the years, with leading global brands establishing their bases in Malaysia.
“We in order to sustain global demand of our products and services, continuous enhancement of quality and the maintenance of the highest standards is imperative.
“As of 2018, Malaysia has developed over 5,400 standards applied in 25 industrial sectors of which 61 per cent are aligned to international standards,” he said.
Azmin said to move Malaysia’s economy as a major regional player in global competitiveness, with a diversified economic structure, the country adheres strictly to international best practices in a process that is consensus-based, transparent and inclusive.
“In terms of the synergy of rules and regulations to ensure the safety and health of the people and sustainability for the environment, in 2018 alone, more than 500 standards were made mandatory by Malaysian regulators across the board.
“In the area of accreditation, as of 2018, programmes offered by Standards Malaysia cover a wide spectrum including quality, environmental, occupational safety and health, product, energy, food safety, forest management and palm oil, in particular, the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil,” he said.
Azmin pointed out that this underscores Malaysia’s culture of active standards compliance among industry players.
