Malaysia

• Official languages: Malay.
• Geographical location: Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand in the north and maritime borders with Singapore in the south, Vietnam in the northeast, and Indonesia in the west. East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam.
• Administrative divisions: Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and three federal territories. These are divided between two regions, with 11 states and two federal territories on Peninsular Malaysia and the other two states and one federal territory in East Malaysia. Each state is divided into districts, which are then divided into mukim. In Sabah and Sarawak districts are grouped into divisions.
• Capital: Kuala Lumpur.
• Governance: politics of Malaysia takes place in the framework of a federal representative democratic constitutional monarchy, in which the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is head of state and the Prime Minister of Malaysia is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the federal government and the 13 state governments. Federal legislative power is vested in the federal parliament and the 13 state assemblies. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, though the executive maintains a certain level of influence in the appointment of judges to the courts.
• Population: 32.5 million.
• Currency: Ringgit.
• GDP: $370 billion.
• Time zone: GMT +8.
• Telephone code: +60.
• Barcode: 955.

Economic situation

• GDP: 370 billion US dollars;
• GDP growth: 104.3 percent;
• GDP per capita: 12,200 US dollars;
• export: 238 billion US dollars;
• import: 204 billion US dollars;
• inflation: 1 percent;
• main export items: electronic equipment, oil and gas, palm oil, chemical products, wood;
• main import items: electronic equipment, vehicles, petroleum products, chemical products, metal products.

Political cooperation

Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Belarus and Malaysia were established on March 5, 1992.

Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus to the Republic of Indonesia and Malaysia (concurrently) since September 2017 - V. Kolesnik (from March 2012 to July 2017 - V.N. Lopato-Zagorsky). Credentials were presented to the Supreme Ruler of Malaysia, Sultan Muhammad V on February 12, 2018.

The Ambassador of Malaysia to Moscow (Russian Federation) Datuk Mat Dris bin Haji Yakub is accredited in the Republic of Belarus concurrently. Credentials were presented to the President of Belarus on January 16, 2018.

In 1999, a delegation of the Republic of Belarus headed by the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Latypov U.R. made a working visit to Malaysia.

In 2003, the Belarusian delegation led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus M. Khvostov took part in the XIII Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kuala Lumpur.

In 2006, as part of the ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (Putrajaya, Malaysia), a meeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus S. Martynov was held with Malaysian Foreign Minister Sayed Hamid Albar.

In 2007, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Sergey N. Martynov paid a visit to Malaysia

In 2009, a meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Belarus and Malaysia was held during the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt).

In 2010, Malaysia was visited by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Aleinik S.F. and representatives of the Belarusian business community.

In 2012, Sharm-El-Sheikh, as part of the ministerial meeting of the Coordination Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement, held a meeting of Deputy Foreign Minister Aleinik S.F. with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia A. Coilan.

In 2012, in Moscow, a meeting of the Minister of Industry of the Republic of Belarus Katerinich D.S. with the Minister of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia M. Bin Mohamed.

In 2015, a delegation of the Ministry of Taxes and Duties of the Republic of Belarus headed by Deputy Minister E. Selitskaya visited Malaysia (consultations on a draft Agreement on Avoiding Double Taxation and Prevention of Tax Evasion in respect of Taxes on Incomes and Property).

In 2016, Malaysia was visited by V.B. Rybakov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus. Meetings were held in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture and Agrarian Industry, International Trade and Industry, Defense, Higher Education, as well as in the Parliament of Malaysia, the National Chamber of Commerce and with the leadership of large companies.

Inter-parliamentary cooperation is developing. Within the framework of the 120th Assembly of the IPU (April 5 - 10, 2009, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), a meeting was held by V.P. Andreichenko, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus. with the Vice President of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Malaysia, Van Yunaidi bin Tuanku Jaafar.

Regular contacts are held between the parliamentary delegations of Belarus and Malaysia within the framework of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (2012 - in Indonesia, 2013 - in Brunei, 2014 - in Laos, 2015 - in Malaysia, 2017 - in the Philippines, 2018 -  in Singapore).

In February 2013, a working group on cooperation with the Parliament of Malaysia was created at the 5th convocation National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus. A similar group was formed in the 6th National Assembly in February 2017. From April 2014 to May 2018, the Malaysian-Belarusian Parliamentary Friendship Group operated in the Parliament of Malaysia.

In 2014, a visit to the Republic of Belarus of the Malaysian parliamentary delegation led by Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Malaysia Ronald Chiandi took place.

In 2016, the speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Malaysia Pandikar Amin Mulia paid an official visit to the Republic of Belarus. Meetings were held with the President, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, the chairmen of the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly, the Chairman of the Minsk Region Executive Committee, a visit to a number of enterprises took place.

Since 2001, the visit of the President of the Republic of Belarus to Malaysia has been coordinated. The visit was agreed on in 2002, but the event was postponed to a later date at the initiative of the Belarusian side. The Belarusian side made a proposal to conduct a visit on March 27-30, 2017, however, the Malaysian side made a proposal to postpone the visit at the highest level. New dates for the visit have not been agreed.

Cooperation between Belarus and Malaysia within the framework of international organizations is constructive in nature, countries support each other when voting in elected bodies of international organizations.

Both states condemn the politicization of human rights issues within the UN and the practice of adopting country resolutions. Malaysia, being a member of the UN Human Rights Council in 2010-2013, abstained from voting on anti-Belarusian resolutions.

The statistics of the bilateral Belarusian-Malaysian international legal framework are three signed and entered into force agreements: Memorandum of Understanding between the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and the Academy of Sciences of Malaysia on scientific and technical cooperation (signed and entered into force on May 10, 2013), the Memorandum on inter-parliamentary cooperation between the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus and the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Malaysia (signed and entered into force on December 19, 2016) and the Cooperation Agreement between the Belarusian State University and the University of Malaisya (signed and entered into force on November 29, 2016).

In March 2015, during a visit to Malaysia, a delegation led by Deputy Minister for Taxes and Dues of the Republic of Belarus E. Selitskaya initialed a draft Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Belarus and the Government of Malaysia on the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of tax evasion in respect of taxes on income and property.

Work is underway on draft agreements under consideration by the parties on economic, scientific and technical cooperation, on cooperation in the fields of investment, information, law and the fight against crime, education, military-technical cooperation and the protection of classified information, as well as on mutual understanding between the Malaysian Institute of Agricultural Research and Development (MARDI) and the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

The possibility of establishing cooperation in the field of science and education is being studied.

In May 2013, the National Exposition of the Republic of Belarus was held in Kuala Lumpur as part of the 24th International Exhibition of Inventions, Innovations and Technologies “ITEX 2013”. In July 2013, representatives of the Academy of Sciences of Malaysia paid a visit to Belarus.

Work is underway with the Malaysian Medical Council (MMS) on the accreditation of the Belarusian State Medical University in Malaysia.

Since 2013, Belarusian enterprises have been participating in military-related exhibitions in Malaysia.

In November 2016, during the exhibition "INDO DEFENSE 2016 EXPO & FORUM" in Jakarta, a meeting of the Deputy Chairman of the State Military Commissariat of Industry Smolsky G.A. with the Deputy Minister of Defense of Malaysia, Vira Mohd Johar bin Baharum.

In March 2017, the National Belarusian exposition was presented for the first time at the 14th International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition on Langkawi LIMA’17 (collective organizer - Belspetsvneshnekhnika GVTUP; 4 Belarusian exhibitors). Meetings of the Director General of the Belspetsvneshnekhnika military technical and industrial complex with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of Malaysia and the commanders of military branches took place.

Subject to an agreement with the leadership of the Goskomvoenprom, a visit to Belarus of the Deputy Minister of Defense of Malaysia V.M. Johar bin Baharum to participate in the exhibition "MILEX - 2017" in May 2017

Based on the results of the work of the joint exhibition platform of the State Military Committee for Industry and Defense at the exhibition and conference of defense systems and services “DSA 2018” organized on April 16-19, 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, negotiations were held on the supply of products of the Belarusian defense industry complex, the organization of joint production of individual weapons samples. Interest in the acquisition of Belarusian electronic warfare systems, services for the modernization and repair of weapons and military equipment was confirmed.

Bilateral trade, economic and investment cooperation of the Republic of Belarus with Malaysia

Trade and economic cooperation

Commodity turnover of the Republic of Belarus with Malaysia in 2015 - 2019 (million US dollars)

In 2019, trade between the Republic of Belarus and Malaysia amounted to 137.1 million US dollars (58.6% compared to 2018), exports - 83.2 million US dollars (48.7%), imports - 53.9 million US dollars (85.6%). The balance is positive - 29.3 million US dollars. Belarusian exports to Malaysia were carried out for 66 commodity groups of foreign trade activities (in 2018 - for 43 commodity groups), of which 28 were new items, deliveries were stopped for 15 commodity items.

Export of the most important goods from the Republic of Belarus to Malaysia in 2018 - 2019 (thousand US dollars)

Import of the most important goods from Malaysia to the Republic of Belarus in 2018 - 2019 (thousand US dollars)

Export promotion in Malaysia is carried out by Singapore's own regional entities of the distribution network of the following enterprises: Belshina OJSC, BELAZ OJSC, MAZ OJSC in Vietnam, and BKK OJSC in Malaysia.

The export of Belarusian services in 2019 amounted to 15.2 million US dollars or 44.6% compared to the level of 2018. Import of services - 0.4 million US dollars (185.7%). The balance is positive - 14.8 million US dollars.

The basis of Belarusian exports to Malaysia was the supply of potash fertilizers, whey and chemical products - 98.1%, 0.8% and 0.3%, respectively, of total exports. In 2019, Belarus exported 339 thousand tons of potassium chloride (44.7% compared to 2018) for a total of $ 81.7 million (50.1%).

Important export items:

• whey - 690.3 thousand US dollars (an increase of more than 10 times),
• chemical products worth 239.2 thousand US dollars (86% over the previous year),
• mixed mineral fertilizers in the amount of 221.4 thousand US dollars (83.6% by 2018),
• plates, sheets, plastic film in the amount of 177.6 thousand US dollars (4 times increase)

There is potential for the development of cooperation in the military-technical field. Since 2003, JSC 558th Aircraft Repair Plant has been fulfilling contracts for the repair of Malaysian aircraft and the supply of individual units. The Malaysian side is exploring the possibility of cooperation on the repair and modernization of MIG-29 and SU-30 aircraft, which are in service with the Malaysian Air Force. There are prospects for establishing supplies to Malaysia of MZKT equipment, command and control systems, and simulators.

As part of facilitating the export of products and services of the enterprises of the military-industrial complex, in the first half of 2019, a series of meetings was held with the Deputy Minister of Defense L. Tong, in which the potential of the domestic defense industry was presented, direct contacts were established with the special exporter of weapons of the Belspetsvneshnekhnika GVTUP. In December 2019, a meeting was organized between the head of the defense department and the leadership of the domestic GVTUP.

The effective participation of the special exporter and defense industry enterprises in the 15th International Exhibition of Aerospace and Naval Equipment “LIMA-2019” (March 26 - 30, 2019, Langkawi Island) was ensured, as a result of which negotiations were successfully held with the military commanders Malaysian Armed Forces, police leadership. Substantive agreements were reached on further steps in the framework of the development of projects for the purchase of Belarusian weapons, technology transfer and production localization. At the same time, taking into account the specifics of MTC contracts, their conclusion is expected no earlier than the end of 2020.

In order to increase the supply of Belarusian potash fertilizers to Malaysia, the Embassy is constantly interacting with the representative office of BKK OJSC in Malaysia (previously the BKK subject of TPNs worked for the Asian region from Singapore), the management of the largest partners of the Belarusian potash trader in Malaysia: “Agromate Holdings Sdb Bhd "," All Cosmos Industries Sdb Bhd ".

In March and November 2019, in Kuala Lumpur, meetings were held with the director of the Representative Office of BKK OJSC in Malaysia and the president of Agromate Holdings Group to discuss the prospects for promoting potash fertilizers in the countries of the region.

In January - March 2020, trade between the Republic of Belarus and Malaysia amounted to 42.7 million US dollars (growth rate - 109.6%), including export - 29.0 million US dollars (95.1%).

Terms of access to the market of Belarusian enterprises

The customs duties applied by Malaysia range from 0 to 50%, with an average tariff value of 8.5%.

Most-favored-nation rates (MFNs) apply to Belarusian products. Data on current customs tariffs are available on the official website of the Malaysian customs service (with a search function on the HS codes).

The conditions for access of Belarusian products to the Malaysian market differ from the conditions applicable to a number of states, which is stipulated by the existing free trade agreements. The Agreement on Free Trade Area of ​​the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Malaysia is a member, provides for the application of preferential customs rates (from 0 to 5%) in mutual trade between participants in an integration entity. The Association also has free trade agreements with Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Japan and South Korea, which provide preferential conditions for the access of products of these countries to the market of ASEAN member countries. Malaysia is also a party to the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, the entry into force of which will remove a number of barriers and open up additional opportunities for mutual trade between a group of participating countries. In addition, Malaysia has a number of bilateral trade agreements with foreign countries. The total number of trade agreements to which Malaysia is a party is 16.

Negotiations are ongoing on a number of FTZ agreements with Malaysia.

The issues of licensing of business entities engaged in import-export operations in Malaysia are dealt with by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. The list of goods for the import of which you must obtain a license is available on the website of the department.

The Department of Standards Malaysia is responsible for developing product certification policies. Certification and compliance verification in Malaysia is handled by the government company SIRIM Berhard. The company checks for compliance with products manufactured to standards such as Malaysian Standard (MC), British Standard (BS), European Norm (EN), as well as the international standard (ISO). Additional information on product certification issues is available on the website of the specified company.

Phytosanitary and veterinary issues regarding import of products are the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Industry of Malaysia. The relevant information is posted on the department’s website.

When developing Belarusian manufacturers issues of promoting products on the Malaysian market, it is necessary to adhere to the requirements for commercial offers. Belarusian manufacturers should actively participate in exhibition events held in Malaysia, which will facilitate the establishment of direct contacts with partners. Large Malaysian companies operate on principles common to business circles around the world. Representatives of the Malaysian business, as a rule, speak English and use it in correspondence and in the preparation of contracts.

Detailed information on the business environment in Malaysia is provided in the current Doing Business Malaysia 2017 World Bank survey.

Tenders (contests)

Public procurement in Malaysia is carried out according to the following parameters:

purchase of goods and services in the amount of up to 50 thousand Malaysian ringgits (12.8 thousand US dollars at the exchange rate on April 12, 2016 - 3.88 ringgits per 1 US dollar) - direct purchase;
purchase of goods and services in the amount of from 50 to 500 thousand ringgit - with a request for price offers from suppliers (at least five);
from 500 thousand ringgit - with tenders.
Information on tenders in which foreign companies are allowed to be published in English in local periodicals, as well as on the government procurement website - (link to the full catalog).

When conducting international tenders for the supply of goods and services, applicants are exempted from the requirement of local registration. In tenders for the performance of work, local registration of foreign companies is mandatory.

The amount of the tender deposit for foreign applicants with the size of the tender offer above 5 million ringgit is 60 thousand ringgit, with the amount of the offer above 30 million - up to 1 million ringgit.

Additional general information on public procurement in Malaysia is provided on the website of the Ministry of Finance.

All companies applying for tenders for the supply of goods and services must be registered with the public procurement department of the Ministry of Finance of Malaysia.

Additional information on the conditions for registering foreign companies to participate in tenders held in Malaysia is available on the ePerolehan public procurement system website.

Useful links:

• Business directory of suppliers of Malaysian goods;
• Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce;
• Federation of Malaysian Producers;
• Association of Small and Medium Enterprises of Malaysia;
• Malaysian Professional Business Association;
• List of other business associations.

This article has been prepared on the basis of information provided by the National Centre for Marketing and Price Study of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Republic of Indonesia, and taken from public sources. The information presented herein is for informative purposes only. In this regard, it may be useful for the companies, which have been working in Malaysia for a long time, as well as for those, which are going to enter this market. Any questions, feedbacks and comments concerning this article are welcome. All of them will be fully considered and taken into account, if possible. If you have any information that may be interesting and useful for the visitors of this page, please write to us.

When using the materials of this article, the link to Export.by is obligatory.

Best wishes,

Administration of Export.by

Back to Country Guidebooks List