MIDA Launches Its Istanbul Office As A Gateway For Malaysia-Turkey Crossflow Investments
Istanbul, Türkiye, 30 September 2022 – MIDA’s newest office in Istanbul is set to provide Malaysia and Türkiye new economic opportunities and drive the steady growth of Malaysia-Turkiye’s bilateral trade relations. MIDA Istanbul will serve as a gateway for aspiring Turkish investors who wishes to expand their businesses in Malaysia and vice-versa. Investors will be able to gain access to the latest information on investment policies and opportunities, joint venture partnerships or technological collaborations.
The launch of the MIDA Istanbul Office was officiated by the Malaysian Senior Minister and Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI), the Honourable Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali. Also present at the event were MITI Secretary General, Datuk Lokman Hakim Ali; MIDA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Datuk Wira Arham Abdul Rahman; MATRADE CEO, Datuk Mustafa Abdul Aziz; Consul General of Malaysia in Istanbul, YM Tengku Mohd. Dzaraif Raja Abdul Kadir; President of Invest in Türkiye, Mr. A. Burak Dağlıoğlu and Mr. Catagay Ozden, Head of Department South Asian Countries, Ministry of Trade, Türkiye.
Many business opportunities await Turkish investors, particularly in the fields of machinery and equipment, aerospace, ICT, digital investment, food manufacturing including the Halal segment. Over the years, many factors have enabled Malaysia to attract quality investments, which include, its unmatched connectivity and business friendly policies. Furthermore, as Malaysia is centrally located within Southeast Asia, the country serves as the prime gateway for Turkish investors to penetrate the ASEAN market. Similarly, Türkiye is also strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa. Malaysian companies could consider using Türkiye as a base to tap into the large European market as well as the emerging markets of Central Asia and the Middle East.
The Honourable Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin remarked,“The establishment of MIDA’s office in Istanbul serves two very fundamental and critical purposes. First, it plays an instrumental role as a gateway for businesses who wish to expand their commercial interests and investment horizons in Türkiye and beyond, including adjoining regions such as the Middle East and the European Union. This will be in tandem with Malaysia’s initiative in enhancing our cross border investments. Secondly, but no less significantly, this office will act as a magnet to draw greater investments from Türkiye and the region into Malaysia, and thereby leverage our position as a springboard for expansion in the ASEAN region and beyond.“
“Hence, the opening of MIDA’s office in Istanbul is most timely in order to fully exploit the potential upside for enhanced Turkish investments in manufacturing and services, particularly in the areas of advanced manufacturing, machinery and equipment, aerospace, digital investment, ICT and food manufacturing including the Halal segment. This is in tandem with our National Investment Aspirations (NIA). I would like to underscore that our growth policy also prioritises the imperative of ensuring that SMEs ride on the value and supply chain. These initiatives will also empower companies and businesses to automate their processes, and be cost-efficient in meeting industry demands while mitigating social and environmental impacts.“ added the Honourable Dato‘ Seri Mohamed Azmin.
In terms of Türkiye’s investments in Malaysia, as of June 2022, a total of 14 manufacturing projects were approved with total investments worth RM525.2 million (USD156.3 million). Among sectors of the approved manufacturing projects include scientific and measuring equipment, textiles and textiles products, chemical and chemical products, food manufacturing; and electrical and electronics products. Four manufacturing projects with Turkish investments worth RM377.93 million (USD111.6 million) have been implemented in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, MIDA CEO, Datuk Wira Arham Abdul Rahman in his welcoming speech, said, “Apart from helping MIDA to attract new investment opportunities into Malaysia, the country is looking for new collaborations to grow together and the launch of MIDA’s office in Istanbul will help us extend our outreach programmes with trading partners of Türkiye, which includes countries like Russia, Greece, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Georgia and the 7 “Stan” countries in Central Asia. We also aspire to promote Malaysia’s culture, warm hospitality and other diverse elements of our country to new communities and societies.”
“I am confident that opening the MIDA Istanbul Office will further enhance bilateral trade between the two countries and cross-border investments between Türkiye and Malaysia. Turkish investors who are interested in seeking joint venture partnerships or technological collaborations with Malaysian businesses, can get all the necessary information from this office.” he also added.
In applauding the strategic partnership with MIDA, Mr. A. Burak Dağlıoğlu, President of Invest in Türkiye said, “Türkiye and Malaysia are regional business hubs for their respective regions. Over the years, Malaysian companies have invested approximately USD1 billion in Türkiye. These investments are mainly in energy, finance, infrastructure and transportation, retail, and healthcare. We also see investment potentials in technology entrepreneurship and Islamic finance. With the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement in August 2015, our total trade volume has doubled to USD3.5 billion in just six years. As we have an office operating in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, we are delighted to welcome our esteemed counterpart MIDA to open its office in Istanbul, Türkiye which will enhance our collaboration and partnership. This undoubtedly will contribute to the increase bilateral trade volume and investments between the two countries.”
Companies that have benefited greatly from the existing economic relations between Malaysia and Türkiye includes:
TUSAS (Turkish Aerospace Industries) Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. currently has 20 personnel and the numbers are expanding, which will hit 100 by the end of 2022. With its Malaysian office located in Cyberview, Cyberjaya, TUSAS aims to carry out new joint projects in the aerospace industry where the first project they started was the flight control computer for HÜRKUŞ Advanced Trainer Aircraft. TUSAS has also signed an MOU with UniKL and University of Malaya, where 10 students have already completed their internship programme at the Turkish Aerospace Headquarters at Ankara, Türkiye last summer.
“We have always been in contact with MIDA and they are helpful in every situation, and we are glad that they decided to launch an office in Istanbul, Türkiye. We are certain that this office will open new avenues for collaboration between Türkiye and Malaysia.” said Prof. Dr. Temel Kotil, President and CEO of TUSAS.
Meanwhile, Evyap Sabun Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. which was incorporated in 2011, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Türkiye-based Evyap Group, a longstanding and well-established personal care product manufacturer with a strong market presence in Türkiye, Middle East and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) regions. Their vertically integrated oleochemicals manufacturing plant is located in Pasir Gudang, Johor Bahru.
“Evyap Group is continuing to undertake additional investments in Malaysia’s oleochemical and personal care industry, which includes specialty oleochemicals, oleic acid capacity expansion and crystal soap production line. We are also looking at potential additional investments in the region for which various options are currently being explored.” said Mehmed Evyap, Executive President of Evyap.
For the first half of 2022, Malaysia attracted a total of RM123.3 billion (USD28.0 billion) worth of approved investments in the manufacturing, services and primary sectors involving 1,714 projects for the period of January to June 2022 and is expected to create 57,771 job opportunities in the country. FDI remained the major contributor, at 70.9 per cent or RM87.4 billion (USD19.9 billion), while investments from domestic sources contributed 29.1 per cent amounting to RM35.9 billion (USD8.2 billion). With the newly launched MIDA Istanbul Office, Türkiye will no doubt contribute immensely to the socio-economic development and bring about new growth areas into Malaysia’s investment landscape.
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About MIDA
MIDA is the government’s principal investment promotion and development agency under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to oversee and drive investments into the manufacturing and services sectors in Malaysia. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur Sentral, MIDA has 12 regional and 20 overseas offices. MIDA continues to be the strategic partner to businesses in seizing the opportunities arising from the technology revolution of this era. For more information, please visit www.mida.gov.my and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube channel.
For more information, please contact:
MIDA
Mr. Faizal Jalaludin
Director, Foreign Investment Division, MIDA
E: [email protected] I T: +603 2267 6650
Ms. Meltem Şimşek
Investment Officer, MIDA Istanbul
E: [email protected] I T: + 9 0533 638 72 64
