KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (July 9): According to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, several Austrian firms have expressed interest in investing in Malaysia because of its strategic location as a gateway to the Asia Pacific area (MITI). Senior Minister-cum-International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali met his Austrian counterpart, Federal Minister for Digital and Economic Affairs Dr Margarete Schrambock, during his Trade and Investment Mission (TIM) in Vienna today to explore growth areas for bilateral trade and investment, according to a statement released today.
According to MITI, on July 8, 2021, an Establishment of Focal Points was signed, in which elected high officials would have direct conversations and exchange ideas in order to promote trade and investment prospects and intensify economic cooperation.
Because Malaysia is focusing on ESG concerns, MITI stated Azmin promised Dr Schrambock that Malaysia would enable interest from Austrian companies known for putting sustainable energy at the forefront of their products and services.
Meanwhile, the Ministry announced that Azmin had visited the Loeben headquarters of Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG (AT&S), and that MITI and AT&S had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) focusing on cooperation in production teaching and training, as well as research on high-end technologies.
Last month, it was announced that AT&S had picked Malaysia as the location for its first production factory in Southeast Asia, with an estimated total investment value of RM8.5 billion.
Azmin also had a roundtable discussion with the Austrian Federal Economic Chambers (WKO) during the TIM, according to MITI, in which the Senior Minister agreed that there was an urgent need to intensify strategic business-to-business cooperation, particularly in industries like smart manufacturing, artificial intelligence, aerospace, medical devices, and renewable energy.
Apart from that, it was reported that Azmin conducted talks with Stellantis N.V., an automotive manufacturing company with sites in 30 countries and over 300,000 people.
“The discussion centered on how Stellantis could best enhance their investments, particularly those that are in line with Malaysia’s National Investment Aspirations, which promotes electric vehicle (EV) through customised incentives, such as completely built-up (CBU) bridging prior to the preparation of completely knocked-down (CKD) production,” it said.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysia’s total commerce with Austria increased 32.2 percent to RM1.31 billion in the first five months of this year, according to MITI.
“The possibilities for further increases of bilateral trade between Malaysia and Austria are bright for the rest of the year,” it stated, “particularly in sectors that will boost Malaysia’s footprint in the digital and hi-tech industries.”/n
