Malaysia's trade With APEC expected to rise

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's total trade with the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries, which has been growing over the past 10 years to US$226.7 billion in 2006, is expected to increase further this year."We foresee the trend to continue this year and also in future because most of the economies growing strongly are located within the APEC region," Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation's chief executive officer Datuk Noharuddin Nordin said today."As you know, countries like Japan and North America are already traditionally our strong markets," he told reporters at the "Specialised Capacity Building Course for APEC Trade Commissioners", which was officiated by Matrade's chairman Tan Sri Halim Mohammed.Malaysia's total trade with the 20 APEC countries jumped 84.6 percent to US$226.7 billion last year compared with US$122.8 billion in 1997.The country's exports to APEC economies expanded by 11.5 percent to US$123.6 billion last year from US$103.2 billion in 2005 while imports rose by 12.9 percent to US$103.2 billion in 2006 from US$91.4 billion in the previous year.On the course, Noharuddin said it was to enhance the skills and effectiveness of trade commissioners in their capacity as business facilitators and economic representatives.It was also to create a platform for trade commissioners to network and share information as well as experiences on changing business cultures, he said.The course, organised by Malaysia for the first time, is participated by representatives from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, Chile, Hong Kong and Mexico.Earlier, Halim in his opening speech said that Malaysia would host the International Trade Malaysia 2007 Exhibition, to be held from Nov 12 to 15 at the Matrade Exhibition and Convention Centre.The event, themed "Fostering Business Collaboration", would provide a platform for participating companies from many parts of the world to develop trading, investment and collaboration opportunities, he said.He added that in conjunction with the exhibition, the Kuala Lumpur International Trade Forum, would also be held to attract international business leaders, entrepreneurs and industrialists.