WorldCity, Annual Report: No. 6 Malaysia- Tech trade skyrockets | Connecting Local Business Leaders To The Global Economy

Annual Report: No. 6 Malaysia- Tech trade skyrockets

June 28th, 2006

Demand for telephony equipment, computers and aircraft parts has propelled trade to triple-digit growth.

A stream of high technology and advanced communications products flew between Georgia and Malaysia in 2005, doubling trade between the two in a single year.

Georgia’s imports of land-line telephony equipment – including fax machines and cordless phone sets – rose a dramatic 517 percent in 2005, ending the year at $1.8 billion. At the same time, some $319 million in Malaysian-made computers were sent to Georgia. That compared with imports worth $253 million in 2004.

But technology also dominated Georgia exports, as manufacturers used the state as the shipping hub for $36 million worth of computers headed to Asia. That’s a 76 percent improvement from 2004.

Georgia and Malaysia exchanged a total of $3.3 billion in goods in 2005, up 114 percent from a year earlier, to make the Asian nation the sixth most important trade partner for the southern state.

Malaysia ranks tenth overall among trade partners with the United States. The countries did $44 billion in commerce in 2005.

The manufacturing sector accounts for half of Malaysia’s exports, according to the Malaysian External Trade Development Corp. (MATRADE), and electronics manufacturing is the most important segment. Made-in-Malaysia global brands include Panasonic, Sony, Philips and Samsung. At the same time, local manufacturers Pensonic, Khind and MEC have been shipping to the prosperous U.S. consumer market.

Malaysia has gained a reputation for embracing cutting-edge technology and has been working to establish itself as a global IT hub. The country’s telecommunications network is already more advanced than any other in Southeast Asia, with the exception of Singapore.

Just as Georgia’s computer imports from Malaysia rose, so too did those of computer chips, skyrocketing to nearly $29 million, compared with just $2 million a year earlier. Computer chips, also known as semiconductors or integrated circuits, are Malaysia’s biggest export product. Most are destined for the automotive and telecommunications industries.

Computer components did not fare so well. Georgia’s imports of computer components fell nearly 91 percent to $16 million in 2005, putting computer parts twelfth on the import list. In 2004, they were fourth. Transmission devices for cell phones were the third leading product to enter Georgia in 2005. They valued $252 million, an increase of 31 percent from 2004.

Imports of plasma, flat-screen, high-definition and color televisions also continued to rise. Imports climbed by nearly 51 percent to end 2005 at $168 million.

Imports of vulcanized rubber skyrocketed by 441 percent to total nearly $42 million in 2005 while palm oil, one of Malaysia’s top raw material products, hit $31 million, an increase of 6 percent. Malaysia is the world’s largest producer of palm oil, accounting for more than half of the total global production.

On the export side, computers were the top product being shipped from Georgia to Malaysia. In 2005, U.S. manufacturers sent $36 million-worth of computers through the Savannah Customs District.

Not far behind were $34 million-worth of exports of regional jet parts and $11 million in parts for larger jets. Savannah’s Gulfstream Aerospace, a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corp., was a key player in that export market.

Georgia’s exports of equipment for line telephony tumbled by 47 percent to $17 million, but exports of computer chips rose nearly 270 percent to total $12 million.

When it comes to trade with Malaysia, Georgia is home to the fifth busiest Customs district behind Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans and Chicago.