Malaysia aims to boost economic relations with Turkey

Malaysia aims to boost economic relations with Turkey by enhancing trade volume and investments, Malaysia's international trade and industry minister said on Friday.

"Turkey and Malaysia will reach a total trade volume of $5 billion by 2020," Dato Sri Mustapa Mohamed said in a statement released by the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE).

Turkey's export to Malaysia stood at around $183.2 million while its import from the country was nearly $2.1 billion in January-August 2017, according to Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

The trade volume for the two countries was around $2.3 billion in the first eight months of this year, TurkStat data shows.

According to MATRADE's statement, Mohamed met with representatives of Turkish and Malaysian companies in Istanbul and invited Turkish companies to Malaysia for further investments.

"We want to increase collaboration between the two countries in potential sectors such as energy, defense, tourism, education, health [and] food," Mohamed said.

Investment of Malaysian companies in Turkey totaled $2.63 billion, the Malaysian minister said adding that Turkey was the twenty-fourth biggest trade partner of Malaysia last year.

"Malaysia and Turkey have eliminated duties on 70 percent of the tariff lines upon entry into the Free Trade Agreement," Mohamed said.

The Free Trade Agreement between Turkey and Malaysia came into force in 2015.

"Now we are inviting Turkish companies to invest in Malaysia as a gateway to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region," he added.