Kuala lumpur: Malaysia will roll out three key follow-up actions – an exporter outreach programme, regulatory reform, and a nationwide supply chain mapping initiative – following the recent tariff renegotiation agreement with the United States (US) which reduced tariffs on Malaysian goods from 25 per cent to 19 per cent. Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the agreement, effective Aug 1, was achieved after ‘months of intense but thorough as well as methodical negotiations’ without Malaysia conceding on its ‘red lines’ in key areas.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Tengku Zafrul highlighted that these red lines included foreign equity limits in strategic sectors, legal safeguards in digital companies, halal standards, and other crucial areas. He emphasized that the negotiation package was a nationwide effort, with contributions from many companies, not just the government. With the tariff deal in effect, the government is focusing on three main areas, beginning wi
th an outreach programme to support industry players and exporters.
Tengku Zafrul mentioned that the outreach programme aims to engage the entire exporters’ ecosystem, including small and medium enterprises, not just multinationals. The second focus is on accelerating industrial reforms by reducing bureaucracy and reviewing regulations to eliminate overlaps and outdated provisions. The third area is strengthening the resilience of Malaysia’s supply chain by fortifying specific industries’ roles in the global supply chain.
He noted that Malaysia is progressing well on a supply chain mapping project, which aims to identify every player involved in the economic activities of key industrial sectors. Tengku Zafrul also stated the importance of Malaysia’s mid-cap companies, which are defined as listed companies with a market capitalisation of between RM100 million and RM1 billion, to the country’s growth ambition under the New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) 2030.
He expressed that awards like the Centurion Club s
erve as private sector contributions to Malaysia’s journey towards becoming a high-income, sustainable, and globally competitive nation. As of March 31, there are 519 such Centurions, indicating the vibrancy of Malaysia’s mid-cap sector, which is critical to national economic aspirations.