Malaysia, China to hold dialogue on use of blockchain tech to boost bilateral trade
04 Apr 2023
Malaysia will be participating in a cooperative dialogue with China on the use of blockchain technology in bilateral trade between the countries.
The International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) said that technology for preferential certificate of origin (POC) would help facilitate Malaysian exports to China.
“To support mutual recognition of digital certificates of origin under the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) framework, Malaysia welcomes the initiative to implement cooperative dialogue with The General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC),” said the ministry in a statement on Tuesday (April 4).
Malaysia will be represented by the ministry along with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department, and other related agencies at the dialogue which would also touch on the development of the system for the technology.
“This system, through its proposed single window framework, aims to improve trade facilitation and reduce technical barriers by offering more efficient and secure processing of goods originating from Malaysia to China,” said Miti.
Further, adopting an e-system between Malaysia and China could greatly benefit businesses, including streamlining the customs clearance process and reducing storage costs at China ports,” it added.
It said the cooperation was also expected to provide opportunities for human resource capacity building and knowledge sharing, while the e-system supports the development of a green economy.
Miti said initiatives such as the PCO blockchain system will further bolster the Malaysia- China trade ties—building on China’s existing track record of being Malaysia’s largest trading partner for the past 14 years, as well as the momentum created by the implementation of the RCEP between Asean countries and its five Free Trade Agreement partners, including China.
“Under RCEP, participating countries aim to eliminate or reduce tariffs on a wide range of goods, which can increase trade and investment flows between member countries, and support intellectual property rights protection, e-commerce, and economic cooperation,” it said.
Miti said by lowering barriers to trade and investment, the RCEP aimed to promote economic growth and enhance regional integration in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Malaysian delegation led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, recently held an official visit to China. The official visit saw Malaysia securing RM170bil worth of investment commitments from China.
On March 30, MyEG Services Bhd (MyEG) inked a partnership agreement with China Customs’ wholly-owned agency, East Logistic-Link Co Ltd to jointly provide a full suite of cross-border trade facilitation services that include certificates of origin on the Zetrix blockchain platform.
MyEG said in a statement that other certificates relevant to cross-border trade like food safety, quarantine and bill of lading could also be issued on the chain.
“This will enable all data in these certificates to be available accurately in near real-time and hence, increases the efficiency of tariff computation and customs clearance, especially for trade within the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP),” it said.
MyEG, through its blockchain platform Zetrix, provides the digital service to connect to China’s blockchain platform.
The digital services provider said the partnership would cover international exports going into China.
Source: The Star
