A Malaysian trade delegation is touring Jeddah and Madinah from May 19 to 23.
Organized by the commercial section (MATRADE Jeddah) of the Consulate General of Malaysia in collaboration with the Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC), Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (JCCI) and Madinah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI), the delegation from the Association of Malaysia's Bumiputra Muslim Manufacturers and Services Industries (PPIPBM) will also participate in the exhibition of Saudi Food, Hotel & Hospitality Arabia (SFHHA 2013) from May 19 to 22.
Malaysian Consul General Mohamed Khalid Abbasi Abdul Razak will lead the business delegation to JCCI on May 20, where business meetings and briefing will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. A similar program will be held in Madinah on May 21. The Malaysian companies will visit some Saudi companies in Jeddah and Madinah.
According to the Malaysian Trade Commissioner in Saudi Arabia Amran Yem, bilateral trade between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia increased significantly to $ 3.66 billion in 2012 from $ 260 million in 1990. In 2012, Malaysia’s total exports to Saudi Arabia were $ 1.22 billion, with electrical and electronic products, manufactures of metal, machinery, appliances and parts, chemicals and chemical products and wood products among its export items. While Malaysia’s imports from the Kingdom were oil, refined petroleum products, and chemicals and chemical products. In 2012, Saudi Arabia was Malaysia’s 19th largest trading partner, 22nd largest export destination and 16th largest import source globally.
The trade mission is part of the continuing efforts to strengthen bilateral trade relationship of Malaysia with Saudi Arabia, and the business meeting is an important networking platform for expanding trade activities for both countries.
Products and services offered by the delegation members include food and beverages, disposable diapers for babies, low to medium voltage switchgear for oil and gas industry and utility sector, protective apparels that include coverall, lab coat and safety vest, fire rated doors and wire rope slings for oil and gas industry, steel and aluminum sheet, metal-based furniture that includes office and laboratory furniture, metal fabrication, flush floor trunking, electrical cable conduit, high quality stationery, civil and building engineering services, electromechanical (M&E) services, security printing, high quality international standard broadband infrastructure systems, facility management, property development and construction.
The Malaysian companies will be available for business meetings from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. from May 19 to 22 at the SFHHA 2013.
Various food items and beverages will be available, including rusk, bakery products, pre-instant mixed coffee, energy and health drink, functional drinks, high fiber cookies and chocolates, instant noodles, paste, cooking flavor and spices for rice dishes, sauces and condiments, canned corned beef, fruit drinks.
and juices, cordial, concentrates, mineral water, quality herbs for healthy food, pomegranate collagen juice, premium chocolate products and premix 3 in 1 tea and coffee, processed frozen food of meat, poultry and fish.
Malaysia trade team plans key talks in Jeddah and Madinah
Malaysia trade team plans key talks in Jeddah and Madinah
Global Markets: Stocks set for tough week, oil eyes strong gains as Middle East war rages
- Oil prices set for largest weekly rise since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
- Stocks take a beat, but Asia shares set for 6 percent weekly fall
- Yields jump as global rate expectations turn hawkish
SINGAPORE: A slight pullback in oil prices on Friday offered some reprieve to battered global stocks, though share markets in Asia remained on track for their sharpest weekly drop in six years as the conflict in the Middle East showed few signs of easing.
Oil prices, headed for their largest weekly gain since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, slipped on news that the US government is weighing potentially intervening in the futures market to blunt rising prices.
Still, they remained up close to 20 percent for the week.
Brent crude futures last traded at $84.73 per barrel, on track for a 17 percent weekly rise. US crude retreated from a 20-month high and was last at $80 a barrel, taking its weekly gain to more than 19 percent.
“What we see is ... markets (consolidating) for a time, chopping around current levels, as a ‘wait and see’ approach takes (precedence) for the time being,” said Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone.
The US-Israel war on Iran convulsed global markets this week and left investors seeking the safety of cash, as they sobered up to the fact that the conflict could drag on longer than initially anticipated.
Traders also moved to price in more hawkish rate expectations from major central banks, spooked by the prospect of a resurgence in inflation if the spike in energy prices persists.
Yields on US Treasuries have shot up some 18 basis points this week, their most in nearly a year, while the dollar was set for its largest weekly gain in 16 months.
“The range of plausible outcomes (of the war) has expanded to include both the possibility of an exceptionally constructive resolution and a highly destructive one,” said Daleep Singh, chief global economist at PGIM Fixed Income.
“Markets are being asked to price a much fatter set of tails with very little reliable information about the likelihood of each, or the path in between.”
EUROSTOXX 50 futures were up 0.95 percent in Asia on Friday, while FTSE futures and DAX futures rose 0.5 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
Nasdaq futures added 0.27 percent, while S&P 500 futures rose 0.16 percent.
High-flying stocks tumble
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan last traded 0.2 percent higher, though it was set to fall 6 percent for the week, which would mark its steepest weekly drop since March 2020.
Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.6 percent but on track for a 5.5 percent weekly loss, while South Korea’s Kospi was headed for its largest weekly fall in six years with a 10.5 percent slide.
The market rout this week sent even high-flying technology stocks and indexes such as the Kospi tumbling, as investors scrambled to book profits to cover losses elsewhere.
“When the dollar rallies and US yields rise, funding conditions are tightening, which will often exacerbate broader moves particularly if there’s leverage involved,” said Ben Bennett, head of Asia investment strategy at L&G Asset Management.
Dollar is king
The dollar has emerged as one of few winners this week in volatile sessions that have dragged stocks, bonds and, at times, even safe-haven precious metals lower.
The rally in the dollar hit pause on Friday, but it was still on track for a weekly gain of close to 1.5 percent, bolstered by safe-haven demand and reduced US rate-easing expectations.
The euro, which remains vulnerable to a spike in energy prices, was set to fall 1.8 percent for the week, while sterling was headed for a 1 percent weekly drop.
Investors are now pricing in about 40 basis points of easing from the Federal Reserve this year, down from 56 bps a week ago , while odds for a rate cut from the Bank of England this month have fallen to 22 percent from a near certainty just last week.
The European Central Bank is seen hiking rates by year-end.
The shifting rate expectations have, in turn, pushed up global bond yields, and in Asia on Friday, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury was steady at 4.1421 percent, having risen some 18 bps this week.
The two-year yield has jumped 20 bps for the week.
Elsewhere, spot gold was steady at $5,118.79 an ounce, though it was headed for a 3 percent weekly fall as rising yields and a stronger dollar eclipsed the yellow metal’s safe-haven appeal.
