In 2022, against the backdrop of slow or even recession in global economic growth, the Malaysian economy has steadily recovered, with strong export growth. According to Malaysian official data, Malaysia’s exports increased by 25% for the whole of 2022, much higher than Vietnam’s 10.6%. It is worth noting that the import and export trade between China and Malaysia will also reach a growth rate of nearly 20% in 2022. Looking forward to 2023, China-Malaysia cooperation is even more anticipated.
Exports will grow by 25% in 2022
Official data released by Malaysia on Wednesday showed that in the last month of 2022, Malaysia’s trade surplus narrowed year-on-year, but both imports and exports hit a record high, and the annual trade growth rate was the fastest since 1994.
The Southeast Asian nation’s trade surplus in December was 27.76 billion ringgit (about 6.42 billion U.S. dollars), narrowing from 31.48 billion ringgit in the same period a year earlier but higher than November’s 22.23 billion ringgit.
Exports rose 6% in December to 131.89 billion ringgit, while imports rose 12% to 104.13 billion ringgit.
For the whole of 2022, Malaysia’s exports increased by 25% to 1.552 trillion ringgit; imports increased by 31.3% to 1.297 trillion ringgit. The trade surplus expanded by 0.6% to 255.1 billion ringgit, achieving a trade surplus for the 25th consecutive year. This was mainly driven by strong exports of electrical and electronic products, petroleum products, LNG and palm oil.
Steady economic recovery
In 2022, driven by factors such as the improvement of the labor market and strong growth in foreign trade, the Malaysian economy will recover steadily.
According to data from Bank Negara Malaysia (central bank), Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 9.3% year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2022. The agency predicts that economic growth for the whole of 2022 will be between 6.5% and 7.0%, up from 3.1% in 2021.
In September 2022, the World Bank raised its forecast for Malaysia’s GDP growth in 2022 from the previous forecast of 5.5% to 6.4%. The main reasons include: Malaysia’s labor market conditions continue to improve, domestic demand strengthens, and international and domestic tourism-related activities will increase. increased.
In terms of foreign trade, as mentioned above, Malaysia’s import and export trade volume in 2022 will reach 2.849 trillion ringgit, the fastest growth rate since 1994.
Affected by the spillover effects of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes and other factors, Malaysia is also facing severe inflation. In the third quarter of 2022, the country’s consumer price index (CPI) increased by 4.5% year-on-year. The ringgit’s exchange rate against the U.S. dollar continued to fall, hitting its lowest level since the Asian financial crisis in 1998 in September.
Cooperation with China is highly anticipated
Looking forward to 2023, some institutions are worried that factors such as slowing world economic growth and reduced external demand will pose challenges to Malaysia’s economic recovery.
Bank Negara Malaysia (Central Bank) Governor Noor Shamsia Mohd Yunus recently stated that the slowdown in world economic growth will bring external shocks, but Malaysia will still maintain growth momentum and is expected to maintain growth momentum in 2023. Annual GDP growth will be between 4% and 5%.
Analysts pointed out that China is an important trading partner of Malaysia, and China-Malaysia economic and trade cooperation will continue to play an important role in Malaysia’s economic development and transformation.
According to the report of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority, in the first three quarters of 2022, Malaysia approved a total of 130.7 billion ringgit in foreign direct investment (1 US dollar is equivalent to 4.43 ringgit), and investment from China reached 49.2 billion ringgit. The highest proportion.
According to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, the total value of China-Malaysia imports and exports in 2022 reached 1.36006 billion yuan, a cumulative increase of 19.3% over the same period last year. Among them, China exported 626.37 billion yuan to Malaysia, a year-on-year increase of 23.9%; China imported 733.69 billion yuan from Malaysia, a year-on-year increase of 15.6%. As of December last year, the trade volume between Malaysia and China had maintained double-digit growth for 25 consecutive months.
Malaysian Transport Minister Loke Siew Hock said that the prosperity of Malaysia-China economic and trade cannot be separated from the active participation and contribution of Chinese-funded enterprises. Under the “Belt and Road” initiative, a large number of high-end, sophisticated and cutting-edge Chinese-funded enterprises have entered Malaysia, injecting vitality and hope into Malaysia’s prosperity and development.
Lok Siu Fook said that Malaysia encourages and welcomes more high-tech, energy-saving and environmentally friendly Chinese-funded enterprises to come to Malaysia to help Malaysia achieve economic transformation andIn terms of industrial upgrading, it is expected that Chinese companies will continue to contribute to Malaysia’s economic development in terms of technology transfer and job creation.
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