Wrapping up his official visit to China on Monday, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi urged the business communities of Malaysia and China to play a more active role in strengthening partnerships between the two countries.

"We must reinforce diplomatic links with strategic economic cooperation and integration that can harness our collective resources to generate growth and prosperity for our peoples," said Badawi. "To ensure long-term success and prosperity, Malaysia and China must invest in one another's future."

The prime minister was addressing a high-profile business forum held in Shanghai, attended by several hundred business leaders and delegates from China and Malaysia.

Badawi maintains that trade alone is not a sufficiently strong platform for a true partnership, even though Malaysia now stands as China's largest trading partner among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economies. The two countries' total bilateral trade surged from US$1.2 billion in 1990 to US$13.2 billion last year.

The prime minister urged Malaysia's business community to seek growth opportunities in China based on a more sophisticated understanding and appreciation of the market, and called upon Chinese companies to make the best of Malaysia's skills base and resources as well as its location as a gateway to the Southeast Asian market and beyond.

From 1996 to 2003, Malaysia's investments in China reached US$3.1 billion.

China's cumulative investments in Malaysia's manufacturing sector from 1980 to 2003 totaled US$1.1 billion.

Badawi suggested that Malaysia's natural gas might top the list of potential areas for strategic business partnerships, given China's growing energy demands in recent years.

One of the world's biggest liquefied natural gas suppliers, Malaysia's national oil corporation, PETRONAS, operates the largest LNG production facility on the globe. Located in Bintulu, Sarawak, it produces 23 million tons annually. Malaysia is also currently the world's largest owner and operator of LNG tankers.

Some Chinese companies have already recognized the opportunities. Tianfa Petroleum Company, based in central China’s Hubei Province, has reportedly been in contact with PETRONAS to discuss possible cooperation.

Badawi pointed out that there are "bountiful" opportunities for the two countries to collaborate in areas like food production, agro-industries, biotechnology, hardware and software development, high-end electronics, communications, and even media and broadcasting operations.

The entry of Chinese companies into the Southeast Asian market through Malaysia would contribute greatly to making the ASEAN-China Free Trade Zone vision a reality within 10 years, said Badawi. China officially joined the Southeast Asia Friendship and Cooperation Treaty last year.

Chinese and Malaysian leaders exchanged congratulatory messages Monday to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

(China Daily June 1, 2004)