The United States has become Malaysia's largest export market, overtaking China in terms of export volume, said Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz after the Asean Unity Drive 2025 flag-off caremony in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday (March 20).
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00:00We have a suggestion today, I read in the papers, that to gain leverage in our trade
00:10negotiations with the US, Malaysian companies should invest more in the States, including
00:15in the oil and gas sector, or we should, you know, try to show the US that, you know, we
00:20have interest in contributing in boosting their economy, you know, do you think that's
00:24a good way? He said that's one way.
00:26There are many ways. We will engage everyone to get their views. I was recently, over the
00:33past one week, we met the American companies who are based here. They are multinationals
00:37as well, and they are also based in other ASEAN countries, through their chambers. We
00:43also are in discussion with all the companies that also are exporting and importing to the
00:50US, because the US continues to be one of our key trade and investment partners. In
00:55fact, the US is our largest export market, right? The US is number one and China number
01:01two. But in terms of trade, of course, China is the largest trading partner. And at the
01:05same time, we are seeing what are the areas where we can continue to improve on, where
01:12it will benefit both Malaysia and the US. And of course, this is important, because
01:18we want to ensure that the spillover to Malaysia, and similarly to the US, where they are looking
01:25at their interests, we are also looking at our interests to ensure that we can continue
01:29to improve our trade and investment figures to support the growth in GDP.
01:34Do you think Malaysian companies should go there?
01:37I think Malaysian companies, we don't stop them to go anywhere. If the US is one destination
01:41where it's commercially viable for them to do so, I think Malaysia should facilitate.
01:47Maybe the government would be more than happy to facilitate.
01:51In terms of building a supply chain, you were saying that probably one day, how far are
01:55we to having our own ASEAN power, building your own resilience, a supply chain? What
02:02do you hope to achieve?
02:04For ASEAN, of course, when you look at where we are today, when you talk about EV, it's
02:10still very much new, I guess, when you look at the penetration, but it's growing. It's
02:16going far. For Malaysia itself, it's growing double digit. But the problem will be to ensure
02:21that we continue to have enough charging stations. There is a worry about anxiety.
02:27So when you look at ASEAN, if people want to go around ASEAN, for example, you need
02:33to make sure that the charging infrastructure is being built in a way where drivers' anxiety
02:41when it comes to distance is no longer there. But having said that, with new technology,
02:45they are able to go further.
02:48So on the supply chain, we, together with other ASEAN countries, are working to see
02:53how we can support each other and strengthen our supply chain when it comes to security
03:00and also resilience in many sectors. I think the automotive sector is one sector that we
03:05can find common ground because we all have an understanding that we need to meet those
03:11sustainability targets sooner rather than later.
03:15So battery centralisation is one?
03:17Yes, battery centralisation is one.
03:19So when is that going to happen?
03:21We just started the discussion. In that discussion this year, during the PEDs, when we talk to
03:29the leaders, we will all come to an agreement on the timeline. We are now, together with
03:35the senior officials, discussing the details. We will be announcing the details during the
03:39summit.