KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia would like to see continued investments from Italy following increased growth in bilateral trade last year, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
He said Italy is currently Malaysia’s third largest global trading partner among European Union (EU) member states. Italian investments are generally perceived in Malaysia to signify quality investments that create quality jobs for locals.
“Malaysia would like to see more Italian investments in our country and in the region. There is no reason why Italy should stop at being only the third largest EU trading partner in Malaysia,” he said in his keynote address at the Sixth High-Level Dialogue on Asean-Italy Economic Relations 2022 today.
Mustapa remarked that Malaysia is proud to be home to a number of Italian investments. For example, as of December last year, a total of 75 manufacturing projects with Italian participation, valued at US$363.8 million (RM1.61 billion) have been implemented across the country, which has created 4,320 job opportunities for Malaysians.
He added that Malaysia recorded 21.7% growth in trade with Italy in 2021. During the first four months of 2022, Malaysia’s trade with Italy increased by almost 30% to about US$1.5 billion (RM6.63 billion) compared with the corresponding period in 2021.
“Let me note that Malaysian MNC (multinational corporations) are also proud investors in the Italian economy. For example, Petronas is in automotive lubricants. It has a specialist fluid plant and R&D centre in Turin. Going all the way back to 2006, KNM Group took over FBM Hudson Italiana,” Mustapa pointed out.
Additionally, he said, Malaysia has made a commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, promote environmental, social, and governance investments, and strive towards becoming a more circular economy. He said he believes Malaysia can learn a lot from Italy on this.
Mustapa noted that the Italian government amended the country’s constitution in early February this year to explicitly include protecting the environment as a fundamental principle.
“We are looking forward to new and expanding investments from Italy, with a particular focus on new potential areas of growth such as machinery, automation, aerospace, green technology, food production, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and other high technology industries, as well as digital investments,” he said.
Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Luigi Di Maio said this year’s event is held in Malaysia, a country linked to his own by a strong friendship and by sound economic relations.
“Besides the growing trade volumes – with €2.7 billion (RM12.26 billion) in 2021, up 18% from the previous year – Italy has an industrial presence in Malaysia of more than 120 companies, perfectly integrated into the local economy and employing more than 10,000 people, which contribute bolstering the prospects for development and stability in the whole region,” he said in his opening speech at the dialogue via video message.
The High Level Dialogue on Asean Italy Economic Relations is held to strengthen economic and strategic ties between Asean member countries and Italy.
For the 2022 edition, Kuala Lumpur was chosen to organise a hybrid physical-digital event, covering topics ranging from macroeconomic outlook of Asean in the post-pandemic scenario, green technologies for a sustainable future, e-economy, smart technologies and 4.0 value chains, aerospace and security for resilience, to investments opportunities and cooperation tools between Italy and Asean countries.
