KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) is hopeful that diplomatic relations between Malaysia and the People’s Republic of China would continue to strengthen and forge closer cooperation in all sectors, economy and trade included.
Its President, Tan Sri T.C Goh was convinced that this would be the case, citing the gradually-normalized global business and trade situation, as the Covid-19 pandemic started to decline, or comes under better control in most nations.
He said, besides hoping for a boost in the official or government-to-government cooperation, he also hoped sectors like trade, tourism, education and social activities between the two nations could return to pre-pandemic conditions, soonest possible.
Goh who is also a director of Malaysia-China Business Council (MCBC) cum chairman of its Bilateral Policy Committee expressed this in a statement issued today, while congratulating on the 48th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and the People’s Republic of China.
He was especially delighted to note that despite the adverse impact of Covid-19 pandemic, in 2021 bilateral trade hit a record high, rising 34.5% to US$176.8bil, with China being Malaysia’s largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years.
For the first two months of this year, bilateral trade also hit USD 29.45 billion, an increase of 28.1% compared to last year, which augurs well for greater improvement, in future.
“The two nations were able to achieve such an encouraging growth amidst a downward global economic trend certainly speaks volume about the sheer dedication and close cooperation between the people of the two nations.
“We are thus convinced that had it not for the pandemic, Malaysia and China could have achieved better results in this regard,” he said.
To better illustrate the strong bond between Malaysia and China, he noted that nine years ago, the two countries established comprehensive strategic partnership, and two years ago, they even adopted the Malay proverb “bukit sama didaki, lurah sama dituruni”, which means “to climb the hill together and go down the ravine together”, in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic together.
Goh also urged the Malaysian government to continue to step up efforts in attracting investors from China to invest in Malaysia, especially to capitalize on China’s dynamic “belt and road” initiative to help expedite our economic recovery, post pandemic, besides further boosting bilateral relations between the two nations and the people.
“We in Huazong would continue to support the policies of our government and to strengthen our communication and cooperation with the Chinese embassy in Malaysia, towards promoting and boosting bilateral relations between Malaysia and China,” he concluded.
