Key priorities for the new Miti minister and his deputy

COMMENT | The new minister for International Trade and Industry (Miti), Azmin Ali, and his deputy, Lim Ban Hong, were sworn yesterday. I wish them well in managing and facing the many challenges ahead.

The economic challenges faced by the new government are immense especially given the Covid-19 crisis. MITI has a very important role to play in helping the industry navigate through these uncertain times. I want to take this opportunity to offer some thoughts on the key priorities for Miti moving forward.

1) Managing disruptions in the supply chain

As an open trading nation, our external trade is driven by the manufacturing sector, especially in electrical and electronic (E&E) products. More than one-third of our trade with China, our largest trading partner, comprises E&E products.

With significant production disruptions in E&E manufacturing in Guangzhou, and also in automotive components in Hubei, our manufacturing sector will also be negatively affected.

Exports and imports in January 2020 declined by 1.5 percent and 2.4 percent respectively on a year-to-year basis. The February 2020 figures will be much worse.

A special task force similar to the one Miti established to monitor the effects of the US-China trade war should be established to collect data and to monitor the manufacturing sectors most affected by the Covid-19 virus.

Some mitigating measures have already been announced in the economic stimulus package by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad including import duty exemptions for machinery and equipment used in port operations and more flexibility in manufacturing activities in Licensed Manufacturing Warehouses (LMWs) and Free Industrial Zones (FIZs).

These import duty exemptions can be extended to other manufacturers besides those involved in port operations...