The protracted trade war between the United States and China should be seen as an opportunity for Malaysia to play a role in increasing trade among Asean countries, said Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali (photo).

Malaysia, according to him, should be more proactive by viewing the trade war, not as a crisis but a good opportunity for the country.

“Many large companies from China and the US are relocating their operations to the (Asean) region including Malaysia because the Asean market is huge. We have 630 million people.

“If we combine China's 1.4 billion population in the region alone, we have almost two billion people. So the market is huge.

“This means Malaysia can be a gateway for them to penetrate the Asean market because this market alone is too large,” he told the media when met after attending a key handing ceremony to owners of a medium-cost apartment in George Town today.

Azmin said this when asked to comment on the worsening trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

Nevertheless, the minister did not deny that trade disputes between Washington and Beijing are affecting the country’s economy, as China and the US are important trading partners for Malaysia.

“In a dialogue with the Penang state government yesterday, I emphasised that the real threat of our domestic economic growth is the domestic investment. That is why various efforts are being made to generate domestic investment and domestic economic growth. This is under consideration,” he said.

Meanwhile, the minister said real estate developers should implement new concepts for an affordable housing development that not only provided a comfortable space but also other amenities such as public hall, swimming pool, gym, surau, and others.

“This has never happened before, since the concept of (affordable housing) development only provided space for occupation, but not liveable, in harmony. Before this, it was only one or two rooms.

“Now the government has set a new concept for affordable housing development with at least three rooms and a new design, to make life more comfortable. This is an example of a new model that can be continued,” added Mohamed Azmin.

- Bernama