PRETORIA, 21 Feb 2014 – Soon after South African President Jacob Zuma’s visit to Malaysia in August 2013, the countries signed 3 MOU’s in the fields of defence, animal husbandary technology and the automotive sector.
Charge d’Affaires a.i of Malaysia to South Africa, Mr. Zahairi Baharim spoke of historical links between South Africa and Malaysia that go back 300 years to colonial times. He was speaking at a business networking session which preceded the MOU signing ceremony at the High Commission of Malaysia in Pretoria, South Africa.
Referring to the 20 Years of Diplomatic Relations between the two countries, he said Malaysia was once the largest investor in South Africa from the Asian region. However, due to the Asian financial crises in the late nineties, some Malaysian companies have had to withdraw their operations from South Africa in order to consolidate their position in Malaysia. The signing of these MOU’s was to reignite the business relations between the two countries and to elevate it to higher levels in the hope that it will be the stepping stone to make Malaysia among South Africa’s top partners from Asia.
In his presentation, Mr Masri Idris, Economic Councellor (Investment) at the Malaysian High Commission, described the development of the Malaysian economy from an agricultural basis to a high technology, high capital and high knowledge driven economy. He pointed out that today manufacturing and the services sector are bulk contributors to the GDP. He said South African companies, particularly in the automotive and agricultural sectors would find many opportunities in Malaysia.
Major Zailani Safari, Director at the Technology Depository Agency (TDA) for the Malaysian Industry Government group for High Technology (MIGHT) made a presentation on the 8X8 AWV Offset Program. The program ensures that national procurement is worth more than 50 million Malaysian ringgit supports the country’s development objective.
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