Malaysia is watching the trade war very closely

TOKYO: Malaysia is watching very closely what is going on in the world because of a possible trade war between the United States and China and hopes to see opportunities for the country, said Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

The Prime Minister said that one of the possible effects of the trade war would be that the cost of Chinese goods in the United States could increase and that China-related companies could be relocated to other countries, such as Malaysia, where the United States would not be allowed.

"We hope that they will settle in Malaysia, but we see at the same time that this trade war has very negative consequences.

"The trade war solves no problem, it creates a lot of problems and undermines the economy not only of the countries concerned but of the whole world", he declared during a dialogue held at the 36th Association Japan-Malaysia Economic Forum (Jameca) – Malaysia – Joint Conference of the Economic Association of Japan (Majeca) and the Malaysian Business Forum, gathered here on Tuesday.

Mr Mahathir said he would like to see more joint projects between Malaysian and Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but he realized that there were some problems for both sides.

"Unlike big companies, they are not very familiar with foreign investment. We will ensure that if they have problems, we can help them and solve them, "he said.

Mr. Mahathir also mentioned the need for Malaysia to encourage its talents to return home.

"We need to recover the educated people in the new knowledge. There will be workers and managers who know the new industries, "he said.

Mr Mahathir said that the ASEAN region had enormous potential and that its total population was growing to 600 million people. It is the third largest group in the world in terms of population.

"I believe that ASEAN can overcome the difficulties of its own country and have the right policies to fully participate in harnessing the potentials of our countries. Our resources are very important, but our governance is more focused on national operations than on regional operations, "he said.

The prime minister also said that having a diversified economy was important for Malaysia. Although Malaysia wants to industrialize and start manufacturing, it does not forget agriculture and fishing.

Dr. Mahathir is on the second day of his three-day visit to Japan. – BERNAMA © Press of the new Straits Times (M) Bhd