Malaysia’s Neutral, Non-aligned Approach Supports Strong 2025 Trade Performance -- Sim

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s neutral and non-aligned approach is reflected in its strong trade performance, which reached a milestone, exceeding RM3 trillion to RM3.06 trillion in 2025, said Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Sim Tze Tzin.

He said the country remained consistent in its position as “friends to everyone” when confronting global geopolitical uncertainty and retaliatory tariffs imposed by the United States.

“This achievement was recorded despite the global economy facing trade policy uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and challenges in international supply chains.

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“Strong increases in both exports and imports supported this growth. Malaysia continued to sustain robust trade momentum with China, with total trade reaching RM541.45 billion, up 11.8 per cent from the previous year,” he said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Negara today.

Sim said China has remained Malaysia’s largest trading partner for 17 consecutive years since 2009.

Trade between Malaysia and the United States also rose by 12.3 per cent to RM365.07 billion, making the US Malaysia’s third-largest trading partner since 2015.

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He was responding to Senator Wan Martina Wan Yusoff about how Malaysia balances geopolitical pressure from major powers without compromising access to export markets.

Meanwhile, Sim said the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) has devised several strategies to ensure the resilience of the nation’s fiscal economy and to implement more targeted, sustainable export-promotion strategies so that Malaysia’s exports remain competitive and viable through 2026.

Among these measures, Malaysia will continue to expand its market reach, particularly into West Asia, Africa, and South America.

“In 2025, significant export growth to several new markets, including Kyrgyzstan, Yemen, Tanzania, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Algeria and Kenya, was recorded.

“Second, by leveraging free trade agreements (FTAs), as these markets accounted for 66.4 per cent of the country’s total exports in 2025, with trade exceeding RM2 trillion,” he said.

In addition, export promotion programmes will be intensified with a focus on high-value and growth sectors such as electrical and electronics (E&E), aerospace, automotive, pharmaceuticals, halal products, services and the creative industries, in line with the New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) 2030.

Next is digital export, where participation on cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba, Amazon and eBay is encouraged through the e-Trade programme to accelerate entry into new markets.

“At the same time, the Madani Digital Trade Platform (MDTP) will be strengthened to broaden the global market reach of Malaysian companies. As of December 2025, more than 4,500 exporters have registered,” he added.

-- BERNAMA