Creating Awareness on Malaysia-Turkey FTA Export Benefits to Malaysian Businesses
aWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) is gearing up efforts to promote the benefits of the recently concluded Malaysia-Turkey Free Trade Agreements (FTA) by organising a seminar focusing on the advantages of the FTA to local businesses. Titled ‘Leveraging on Malaysia-Turkey FTA to Accelerate Exports’, the seminar takes place at Menara MATRADE in Kuala Lumpur.
The event features a general overview of the FTA by Ministry of International Trade and Industry’s Mr. Ariffatri Mohamad and a country briefing on Turkey by MATRADE’s Trade Commissioner to Istanbul Mr. Idzham Abdul Hamid. Over 160 participants, of which are Malaysia’s business communities, are congregating at the seminar.
The Malaysia-Turkey FTA has been the talk of the town ever since it entered into force on 1 August 2015. Among the perks from the FTA are; both Malaysia and Turkey will eliminate and bind duties at 0% for 70% of the tariff lines (products); after 8 years, the duties will be reduced or ultimately eliminated for almost 86% of the tariff lines (products) and the FTA also will see additional Customs Duties elimination for products like textiles, apparel and footwear.
Via the FTA, both countries have agreed to co-operate in the following areas:
- Small & Medium Enterprises
- Halal Related Areas
- Agriculture & Food Industry
- Research Development & Innovation
- Health (pharmaceutical, food safety, nutrition)
- Energy (energy sources & renewable energy)
- Electronic Commerce and
- Automotive (exchange of technical experts and sharing of knowledge and technology)
To accelerate exports to Turkey, MATRADE has organised a few trade promotion activities in Turkey among which were the Malaysia Week in Istanbul (2012), Specialised Marketing Mission (SMM) on ICT and CMC to Istanbul (2014) and SMM on Logistics Industry to Uzbekistan & Turkey (2014). This year, MATRADE organises the participation of Malaysian companies in two SMMs namely SMM on Food to Istanbul, held in conjunction with World Food Istanbul 2015 (3-6 September 2015) and SMM on Chemicals to Istanbul (12-14 November 2015).
From January to July this year, total trade between Malaysia and Turkey amounted to RM2.98 billion. Malaysia’s exports to Turkey totalled at RM1.61 billion, while imports amounted to RM1.37 billion. Malaysia’s top exports to Turkey for the period January to July 2015 were agriculture goods (RM386 million), manufactured goods (RM1.2billion) and mining goods (RM3.3 million).
Additionally, the Malaysia-Turkey FTA is expected to help strengthen bilateral trade and economic linkages between the two countries on a long-term basis. Malaysian exporters are encouraged to take full advantage of the opportunities offered under this FTA and benefit from preferential access for their products in Turkey.
For details on export opportunities in Turkey, please get in touch with MATRADE by emailing to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.matrade.gov.my.
