Bilateral trade between Malaysia, OIC countries at RM145.18b in 2016

KUALA LUMPUR: Bilateral trade between Malaysia and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries inched up 0.2% to RM145.18 billion in 2016 from RM144.87 billion the previous year.
Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry (Miti) Datuk Ahmad Maslan said exports to the OIC improved 5.1% year-on-year to RM82.07 billion, while imports amounted to RM63.11 billion.
Ahmad said this during an oral question and answer session in the Dewan Rakyat here today.
"The trade balance also registered a good performance in rising 67% to RM18.96 billion in 2016 compared to RM11.37 billion the previous year," he added.
Exports included palm oil and related products, chemical and chemical products, machinery equipment, as well as electric and electronics material.
He said among the OIC countries, nearly 70 per cent of Malaysia's exports was to Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Bangladesh and Pakistan with a lot of effort going into establishing good trade relations.
Malaysia signed free trade agreements with Pakistan in 2007 and Turkey in 2014.
Ahmad said currently, the OIC was Malaysia's fifth largest trading partner, accounting for total trade of RM1.48 trillion in 2016.
Ahmad said the government would continue to establish good trade relations with the OIC.
Founded in 1969, the OIC has 57 members with a collective population of more than 1.6 billion. — Bernama