Asian demand, especially from China, seen keeping Malaysian exports going

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's economy has promising trade support from Asia despite the global economic slowdown that is affecting markets worldwide. With rising disposable incomes in Asian countries and the forecast appreciation of China's yuan, the country can ride on the wave of growing demand for Malaysian goods in the future, according to some financial players.

“Malaysia is one of the top 10 trading countries, so while the current global slowdown affects our exports and manufacturing, we also have a diversified exports portfolio (that will cushion the impact),” Hong Leong Asset Management Bhd executive director and chief executive officer Geoffrey Ng said during a media roundtable after launching the Hong Leong Hong Kong Equity Optimizer Fund. He said: “Asia continues to grow in its consumption capability and as the domestic market of each country continues to rise on a per capita basis, this will give support to our exports of resources like oil, palm oil, rubber and so on.” Associate director-general of Investment Promotion, Invest Hong Kong, Charles Ng noted that “China's consumption is growing and with cash-rich Chinese looking to experience different things, there will be demand for foreign goods despite the slowdown.”

GuocoCapital Ltd head of research Eric Yuen said the yuan would continue to be strong in the long run despite the unstable US and European economies currently holding China back. “The gradual appreciation of the Chinese currency will drive all the other Asian economies,” he said, adding that next year, China was expected to have a gross domestic product growth of 7% to 8%, although some slowdown was expected. On investing in Hong Kong, Charles Ng is bullish about Malaysian investors. “Malaysia's economy has strong fundamentals and there is a good opportunity for businesses here to use Hong Kong as a platform to grow their businesses into mainland China or internationally,” he said. Malaysians could access mainland China consumers through Hong Kong as many mainland Chinese companies had investments there, said Charles Ng.

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Hong Kong is ranked third globally in terms of inward foreign direct investments (FDIs). It attracted RM217bil worth of FDIs last year, after RM719bil in the United States and RM333bil in China. Hong Leong Asset Management has launched a medium-term (three to five years) growth fund, and is aiming to invest a minimum 70% in equities and equity-related securities that are listed on the Hong Kong Exchange. The balance will be channelled into fixed-income securities locally and in Hong Kong.

Friday September 23, 2011
By Liz Lee
lizlee@thestar.com.my

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Asian demand, especially from China, seen keeping Malaysian exports going

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