Malaysia-Taiwan Bilateral Ties Remain Strong, Investment Flows Intact -- Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's economic ties with Taiwan remain strong and unaffected, with the country continuing to attract investments from the island, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said.

Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said Taiwan remained an important trading partner and the government was committed to maintaining strong economic, trade and investment relations between the two sides.

“We continue to receive investors, while both imports and exports have recorded very strong growth this year,” he said during the Minister's Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.

In response to a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (PN-Larut), Anwar clarified that Malaysia and Taiwan were not engaged in trade negotiations, adding that their economic ties were managed through the Malaysia-Taiwan Economic Cooperation Committee (MTECC).

Earlier, Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah (PN-Langkawi) had asked about reports that Taiwan had suspended investment talks with Malaysia following Anwar's remarks describing Taiwan as part of China, and the potential implications for bilateral trade and investment.

Anwar said the government had requested that the postponed MTECC meeting be rescheduled. Malaysia took the initiative to establish the committee in 2016.

For the first nine months of 2026, bilateral trade between Malaysia and Taiwan grew 47.1 per cent year-on-year to RM254.21 billion, Anwar said.

Malaysia's exports to Taiwan surged 88 per cent to RM116.58 billion, while imports from the island rose 24.2 per cent to RM137.63 billion.

In terms of investment, 1,737 manufacturing projects involving Taiwanese participation had been implemented as at June 2026, representing investments worth RM34.3 billion.

The projects had created 234,660 jobs nationwide, making Taiwan Malaysia's 10th-largest investor.

Anwar said the government continued to welcome and facilitate investments from Taiwan, particularly in the semiconductor and chip sectors.

“There are so far no signs of Taiwanese investors withdrawing or being reluctant to invest in Malaysia, while cooperation at committee level continues.

“Trade and investment relations must be distinguished from diplomatic relations, in line with Malaysia's adherence to the One China Policy since 1974,” he said.

He said the government would take the necessary steps to ensure trade and investment ties with Taiwan remained strong without compromising Malaysia's foreign policy position.

In response to a supplementary question about claims that Bursa Malaysia had fallen by nearly 10 per cent in November due to the Taiwan issue, Anwar said electrical and electronics, artificial intelligence (AI) and data centre stocks had indeed declined over the month.

However, he said similar declines had also been recorded in other countries, while Malaysia's related counters had performed better than those in several other markets.

He also cited developments involving Nvidia in recent days, which had weighed on related stocks.

-- BERNAMA