Malaysia's exports in 2003 breached the 100 billion-dollar mark for the first time, driving the trade surplus up 45.7 percent year-on-year to a record high of 75.04 billion ringgit (19.75 billion dollars), the trade ministry said Wednesday.
Exports had surged since March last year to grow eight percent to an all-time high of 382.30 billion ringgit, up from 354.08 billion in 2002, the ministry said in a statement. Total imports rose 1.6 percent to 307.27 million "Buoyed by the strong export performance, the trade surplus in 2003 expanded by 45.7 percent to reach 75.04 billion ringgit, the highest ever recorded," it said.
The ministry said Malaysia's exports in December rose nearly 17 percent from a month earlier to 38.78 billion ringgit, while imports were up 21 percent to 32.65 billion.
Although the ministry did not make the point, analysts say part of the powerful export performance can be attributed to the ringgit's peg to the weak US dollar.
December's trade surplus dipped by three percent from November to 6.13 billion ringgit, but it represented the 74th consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997, showing the resilience of Malaysia's exports, it added.
Exports to ASEAN shot up seven percent to 98.54 billion ringgit, and the ministry said almost 23 percent of the increase in Malaysia's global exports last year was due to stronger exports to the region.
Exports to the US showed an upward trend since March to reach 68.81 billion ringgit, with exports in December surging 22 percent to 7.62 billion, the highest monthly figure ever recorded, due to stronger demand for electrical and electronic products, it said.
Exports to Japan in 2003 increased 5.3 percent to 41.81 billion, reversing a decline in the past two years.
Exports to the EU rose 9.4 percent to 48 billion, China by 22.6 percent to 24.47 billion, Hong Kong by 15.5 percent to 23.28 percent, India by 42.6 percent to 9.54 billion and Middle East nations by 24.4 percent to 9.38 billion.
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