T3EX Enters Malaysia to Increase ASEAN Market Share

2. Malaysia is mainland China's biggest trading partner in the ASEAN region and Taiwan's 8th largest trading partner worldwide. More and more Chinese enterprises now view Malaysia as the top investment choice among the ASEAN countries. According to the Economic and Commercial Counsellor's Office of China's embassy in Malaysia, Chinese enterprises' 2015 investments in Malaysia's non-financial sectors surged 237% from 2014. Despite the drops in oil, natural gas, palm oil, and rubber prices, as well as the significant depreciation of the Malaysian Ringgit, Chinese outbound investment to Malaysia has become more diversified in terms of industry exposure. The investments include those for major infrastructure projects (e.g. railway project in Johor, metro project in Kuala Lumpur, hydropower plant in Sarawak) as well as those made in the electronics and appliance, solar, and natural gas sectors. The increasing diversification is expected to further optimize the structure of products traded between China and ASEAN to accelerate logistics development.

3. As a key country in China's plan to build the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, Malaysia has gained a unique strategic advantage for partnering with China on the "One Belt, One Road" initiative. Therefore, T3EX aims to make Malaysia a transfer point for Taiwanese and Chinese enterprises hoping to expand their businesses to the Middle East market. Meanwhile, T3EX also plans to integrate the resources of the Group's 70 offices in the Greater China region and more than 300 agencies overseas as well as the international intermodal freight transport system (sea, land, air, and rail) to provide Asian clients an even more comprehensive cross-border logistics services network to connect with the ASEAN and Middle East regions.