With the new line-up of cabinet ministers announced on Friday by the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the government is set in making the country more accessible to businesses and foreign investors. The newly minted minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul bin Tengku Abdul Aziz, said his ministry will focus on restoring investors’ confidence as one of its top priorities.
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“Leveraging on my previous experience in the Ministry of Finance, as well as my past corporate experience, I will ensure MITI continues to be the focal point in making Malaysia a preferred investment destination and among the most globally competitive trading nations,” said Zafrul in a statement yesterday.
“As the global economy is expected to slow down in 2023, my top three priorities as the Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) are firstly, to ensure that trade remains a robust key growth driver to sustain our economic growth momentum.
“Secondly, we must restore investor confidence and increase FDI, which has long been a key building block of economic resilience, providing us with one of the largest sources of foreign exchange.
“Thirdly, we need to look at the various bilateral and multilateral trade agreements to ensure that their formulation and/or implementation will be of real value and advantage to participants in the Malaysian supply chain, particularly the micro and small SMEs,” continued Zafrul.
With the new cabinet lineup, Budget 2023 will also be re-tabled in Parliament. According to Zafrul, MITI will propose the creation of a special investment fund to attract more high-value-added investments that will generate higher-paid professional employment opportunities.
MITI’s target industries will include the E&E (electrical and electronics) industry which includes the development of applications based on radio frequency and bluetooth technology for the automotive industry; attracting investors to Malaysia’s E&E sector; and the systematic development of the medical devices industry.
Other technology-based industries that will be focused on include the aerospace industry, the chemical and petrochemical industry, nanotechnology, health-tech, and smart manufacturing.
Zafrul added, “These efforts will be matched with human capital development measures that will contribute to the restructuring of Malaysia’s trade ecosystem in the medium- and long-term.”
“I will start engaging with the stakeholders of Malaysian trade, both domestically and internationally, to ensure that we maintain or improve our competitive, business- focused trade ecosystem,” concluded Zafrul. 
