30/09/2025

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TUESDAY | SEPT 30, 2025

Malaysia drawing up Blue Economy Blueprint

Its minister, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, said the roadmap outlines 15 strategies, setting out a phased strategy to address over capacity, strengthen resilience, and reposition the industry for sustainable growth in line with global decarbon isation trends. “SIR2035 outlines 15 main stra tegies across three phases. In the immediate term (the next two years), the focus is on stabilisation - managing overcapacity, restructuring licensing frameworks, and enforcing discipline against illegal operators, while securing domestic raw materials and laying the foundations for decarbonisation,” he added. He said this in his speech yesterday when launching SIR2035, as well as the Asean Policymakers Conference on Steel and the 2025 Asean Iron and Steel Forum. Tengku Zafrul said the roadmap shifts to transformation mode from 2027 to 2035, accelerating carbon mecha nisms, developing low-carbon pro duction infrastructure and standards, and reinvesting in new technologies to Matrade says 4,000 companies expanded globally via Madani Digital Trade platform KUALA LUMPUR: Nearly 4,000 Malaysian companies have expanded globally through the Madani Digital Trade (MDT) platform, enhancing their competitiveness in the global marketplace. Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) said the Malaysia International Halal Showcase 2025 (Mihas 2025) has fully leveraged MDT, which optimises cross-border business matching for 600 Malaysian halal exporters, including micro, small and medium enter prises, with 300 international buyers. “MDT plays a role in facilitating, modernising and digitalising cross border trade processes so that goods and services can move faster, more cost effectively and efficiently. The platform also provides access to key trade facilitation such as customs declarations for imports, exports and e-commerce transactions, thereby enhancing com pliance and streamlining trade operations,” it said in a statement yesterday. Matrade said MDT prioritises the empowerment of MSMEs with digital tools and resources to speed up their readiness for cross-border trade. “With intelligent business matching and trade facilitation services, MSMEs can participate more actively in international markets and integrate into global supply chains.” Matrade said it remains committed to supporting businesses in their digital transformation as Malaysia navigates a changing global trade landscape. – Bernama

KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia is formulating the Malaysia Blue Economy Blueprint, a compre hensive framework to harmonise policies, strategies and invest ments across sectors linked to oceans and coasts. Deputy Minister of Economy Datuk Hanifah Hajar Taib said the 13th Malaysia Plan, the five-year national development plan recently tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, re cognises the Blue Economy as a national priority and outlines a holistic approach to unlock its potential. She said the initiatives include strengthening governance of coastal and marine areas, en hancing strategic industries such as aquaculture, green shipping and renewable ocean energy, and pre serving biodiversity through marine protected areas and community based coastal management. “We hope this blueprint will also contribute to Asean’s collective aspirations, serving as a model for national-level implementation that complements the Asean Blue Economy Framework,” she said in her keynote address at the 3rd

Blue Economy initiatives can uplift local communities, empower small businesses and foster more equi table growth, she added. Meanwhile, in a statement issued here, the deputy minister stressed that Malaysia, as Asean Chair this year, will continue to advance the Blue Economy as a defining pillar of regional co operation. She underlined that only through closer collaboration can Asean unlock the full potential of its seas, coastal and marine ecosystems, as well as inland freshwater resources, to drive in clusive and sustainable growth. The forum’s discussions focused on blue financing and investment, science and tech nology innovation, workforce development and the importance of stronger Asean partnerships. “The Ministry of Economy reaffirmed Malaysia’s readiness to work with all Asean partners to foster collaboration, turn dialogue into action and advance the shared vision of a resilient, inclusive and sustainable Blue Economy for current and future generations,” the statement said. – Bernama

o Initiatives include strengthening governance of coastal and marine areas, enhancing aquaculture, green shipping and renewable ocean energy, and preserving biodiversity: Deputy minister

aquaculture, renewable ocean energy, and greener, more efficient maritime logistics. “If developed sustainably, these opportunities can unlock new engines of growth for our eco nomies and deliver lasting benefits for our people. Advancing the Blue Economy will secure both environ mental protection and shared prosperity,” she said. She noted that strengthening the Blue Economy also offers opportunities to narrow develop ment gaps and promote in clusivity, as many of Asean’s coastal and island communities depend heavily on the ocean. Through sustainable fisheries, eco-tourism, community-led man agement and skills development,

Asean Blue Economy Forum at Sabah International Convention Centre here yesterday. The one-day forum, themed “Invigoration of Blue Economy”, brought together policymakers, senior officials, experts, industry leaders, academics and civil society representatives from across Asean member states. Hanifah Hajar said the gathering provides Asean with a platform to exchange knowledge, strengthen partnerships and chart collaborative pathways to ensure the Blue Economy contributes meaningfully to sustainable growth across the region. She said the potential of the Blue Economy is immense, spanning sustainable marine tourism and

Miti launches roadmap to restructure, transform steel industry KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) has launched the Steel Industry Roadmap 2035 (SIR2035), which provides a “sequential pathway” to stabilise, restructure and transform Malaysia’s steel industry.

build capabilities. “Beyond 2035, the aim is a fully green steel sector by 2050, mobilising talent and capital to keep Malaysia’s steel industry competitive, resilient, and aligned with net-zero commit ments,” he said, adding that SIR2035 is in line with the New Industrial Master Plan 2030, the National Energy Transition Roadmap, and net-zero aspirations by 2050. The minister said Malaysia faces a stark imbalance between supply and demand in its steel industry, with domestic projections showing up stream capacity could reach 40.8 million tonnes by 2030, while domestic demand is only 14.7 million tonnes. “This gap highlights overcapacity – assets underutilised, poor return on investments, and weakening com petitiveness and resilience (in the market),” he continued. “Steel remains among Malaysia’s most carbon intensive industries, exposing us to regulatory market barriers and making decarbonisation a necessity, both environmentally and economically.” Tengku Zafrul highlighted that the steel demand in Asean has grown steadily, with apparent consumption in the Asean-6 at 74 million tonnes in 2023, close to the pre-pandemic peak of 80 million tonnes in 2018-2019. However, the industry faces pressing

Tengku Zafrul (second, left) poses for a photo following the launch of the Steel Industry Roadmap 2035. Also present are Investment, Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Liew Chin Tong (second, right), Secretary-General of Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry Datuk Hairil Yahri Yaacob Hairil and his deputy Datuk Hanafi Sakri (right). – BERNAMAPIC

“The tariff burden, including the US Section 232 tariff on steel and aluminum, will also have serious implications for major Asean producers,” he added. Moving forward, Tengku Zafrul said Malaysia looks forward to partnering with Asean to turn plans into performance and aspirations into actions, forging a steel industry that is competitive, fair, and future-ready. – Bernama

This imbalance distorts our markets and creates an excessive burden to Asean’s steel industry,” he noted. Tengku Zafrul also highlighted that these challenges are further com pounded by the introduction of new regulatory measures on decar bonisation and green steel obli gations, as well as unfair practices such as dumping and transhipment.

challenges as there is more than 600 million tonnes of excess steelmaking capacity globally, much of which is seeking Asean markets, while regional steel demand is projected to reach 80 million tonnes by 2025. “Yet the situation is far from ideal, Asean faces oversupply in long steel products, while remaining heavily import-dependent in flat steel products.