KUALA LUMPUR, 14 September– Invest Selangor Berhad, in collaboration with World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation organised the WIEF – INVEST SELANGOR POWERTALK Webinar entitled Selangor Virtual Investment Mission – Turkey Edition, on 14 September 2021 at 3.00pm (GMT+8) via Zoom. The 90-minute bi-lingual event was attended by more than 100 participants, mostly from Turkey and Malaysia.
COVID-19 pandemic has challenged global collaboration and highlighted our interdependency ‘We are here today to present an opportunity for Turkish companies who wish to explore the ASEAN market by using Selangor as the gateway.’ Said Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari, Chief Minister Selangor, Malaysia.
The Malaysia and Turkey bilateral trade relation relation has improved from USD2.1 billion in 2019 to USD 2.3 billion in 2020, involving palm oil, oleochemical, rubber gloves, cocoa based products and food ingredients.
Malaysia and Turkey signed a joint declaration on the expansion of Malaysia Turkey Free Trade Agreement (MTFTA) in July 2021 to include chapters on services, investment and ecommerce and to further enhance the close business relations between the two countries.
‘Our trade volume has increased by 46 per cent in the first six months of the 2021 compared to the same period of the previous year. This is an important sign that our trade is normalising back after the pandemic.’ Merve Safa Kavakci, The Ambassador of Turkey to Malaysia said.
‘Just one year after the MTFTA in 2016 our trade volume increased by 34 per cent and reach to USD2.6 billion. In 2017 our bilateral trade reached its highest value with USD3.4 billion. In 2020 Turkey was Malaysia’s third largest trading partner in the West Asia region. We hope to reach our goal of USD5 billion of trade volume.’ She added.
Last year, Selangor managed to attract USD4.45 billion total capital of investment, which focus are given to five core cluster industries namely food and beverage manufacturing, transport equipment, life sciences, machinery equipment and electrical electronics industry.
Hasan Gumus, the Chairman of the Turkey-Malaysia Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK), said Malaysia is a strategic partner and a gateway to Asia for Turkey.
‘We intend to develop the multidimensional dialogue between Turkey and Malaysia with our valuable partners such as Invest Selangor and the World Islamic Economic Forum, to expand the trade volume and to strengthen mutual investment relations.’ He said.
Hasan Gumus stated that Turkey and Malaysia are two countries that complement each other. In addition to being a gateway to the Asia-Pacific Region of Malaysia, Turkey is a market with a population of approximately 1.3 billion and a gross national product of approximately USD26 trillion, and is an important entry into a foreign trade market
The Chief Executive Officer of Invest Selangor Berhad, Dato’ Hasan Azhari said Selangor is an ideal location for investment as it is equipped with two international airports and home to the world’s 12th busiest container port with a growing railway network.
Selangor is the most populated state in Malaysia with 6.5 million people and a 75 per cent of workforce rate, with around 65,000 students graduate every year from universities in Selangor. ‘One of the main (pulling) factor is the available multilingual talent in Selangor, with high English proficiency.’ Hasan stated.
Selangor focuses on five areas in manufacturing, including food and beverages, transport equipment, life sciences, machinery equipment, electrical and electronics equipment.
Hasan explained about incentives packages especially for new companies:
- Pioneer Status- 70 to 100 per cent tax exemption.
- Investment Tax Allowance- 60 to 100 per cent on qualified capital expenditure for five years.
- Reinvestment Allowance- 60 per cent on qualified capital expenditure incurred for 15 consecutive years.
- Import Duty Exemption- Raw materials and components, machinery and equipment..
Ahmed Emre Buyukkilic, ASEAN Representative, Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Investment Office explained that the current pandemic has somewhat benefited Malaysian businesses, especially those businesses involving medical equipments, with rubber medical gloves being one of the key game changer and one of the main export into Turkey.
‘The defense industry from Turkey offers a great value to Malaysia. I think this should be boosted with the help of existing Memorandum of Undertandings (MoUs) as well as business to business and government to government engagements between the two countries.’ Ahmed said.
As part of the nation’s mitigation initiatives, Amirudin explained that as of 7 September 2021, Malaysian goverment has successfully vaccinated 71.6 per cent of its total population in Klang Valley, where Selangor is located. More than 40 per cent of Malaysian population is now vaccinated and it is aimed that 80 per cent will be vaccinated by end of October 2021. This is hoped to be one of the pulling factors for foreign investors.
‘Selangor is an excellent trade hub because of its matured transportation and digital connectivity as well as fluent language capabilities of our workforce.’ Amirudin added.
This webinar has attracted investors from Turkey to Selangor and vice versa. The event was supported by Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), Republic of Turkey Embassy Kuala Lumpur, Office of the Commercial Counsellor, Turkish Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and The Investment Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey.
For more information or interview requests, contact Faizah Jaafar at +6019 399 7746 (faizah@wief.org) or follow WIEF Foundation on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter for regular updates on future events and happenings.
About Invest Selangor Berhad.
Invest Selangor Berhad is an investment promotion agency playing a pivotal role in promoting and attracting local and foreign direct investments to encourage the economic development of Selangor. Invest Selangor also coordinates and facilitates the approval of investors’ applications with government agencies and provides relevant business matching and marketing opportunities to improve the business ecosystem in the state.
For Selangor investment enquiries, please visit www.investselangor.my
Contact:
Ahmad Khairo Othman, Director of Corporate Communication & SIBS Division (khairo@investselangor.my)
About World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation (WIEF)
Established in March 2006, the WIEF aims to enhance and elevate the economic situation of communities around the world through encouraging trade and business opportunities and by undertaking various capacity building programmes mainly the annual World Islamic Economic Forum. The platform promotes an inclusive global economy by promoting business cooperation among Muslims and non-Muslim communities. As a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that organises and manages the Forum, we are dedicated to building bridges through business and ultimately promotes stronger cross-border partnerships for the economic well- being of nations worldwide.
The Forum also brings together government leaders, captains of industry, entrepreneurs, corporate executives and academicians from various fields across major economic centres around the world to discuss current issues that affect and shape the future of the commerce industry. The programmes within the Forum consists of panel discussions and master-classes that demonstrate thought leadership on current economic issues.
Aside from the WIEF Forum, we have various other exciting initiatives and activities which offers impactful networking opportunities such as:
- WIEF Roundtable series (WRT)
- WIEF Education Trust (WET)
- WIEF Businesswomen Network (WBN)
- WIEF Young Leaders Network (WYN)
Visit WWW.WIEF.ORG.
Facebook: @worldislamiceconomicforumfoundation
Instagram: wief_foundation
Twitter: @WIEF_Foundation
LinkedIn: WORLD ISLAMIC ECONOMIC FORUM FOUNDATION (WIEF)
YouTube: WIEF FoundationTV
About Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK)
Upon its establishment in 1985, the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEİK) was assigned with the following tasks: to organise and manage the foreign economic relations of the Turkish private sector, in particular with respect to foreign trade, international investments, services, contracting and logistics; to analyse investment opportunities at home and abroad; to help boost the country’s exports, and to coordinate similar business development activities.
For more information, please visit www.deik.org.tr. Contact us at info@deik.org.tr.