Malaysia's exports to hit almost US$500b by 2030: StanChart report

STANDARD Chartered (StanChart) on Tuesday (Dec 7) released its projection that exports in Malaysia will grow at an average annual rate of more than 8 per cent to cross US$498 billion by 2030.

This will make the South-east Asian country a key driver of a growth in trade internationally, as the banking group expects global exports to almost double from US$17.4 trillion to US$29.7 trillion over the next decade, it said.

The findings are from StanChart's new research titled Future of Trade 2030: Trends and markets to watch, which is based on an analysis of qualitative and quantitative information from various sources, including historical trade data and trade projections until 2030.

The research also found that 43 per cent of corporations worldwide currently do or plan to source or manufacture in Malaysia within the next 5-10 years.

Highlighting this in its press statement, StanChart stressed that this is "evidence that Malaysia will be a major driver of global trade growth over the next decade".

StanChart also forecast that mainland China and Singapore will continue to be the largest export corridors for the country, accounting for 19 per cent and 17 per cent of total exports in 2030, respectively.

India will, meanwhile, be the country's "fast-growing export corridor", with a projected average annual growth of 11.8 per cent from 2020 to 2030, it pointed out.

StanChart believes that the sectors that will dominate Malaysian exports in 2030 are machinery and electricals, metals and minerals, as well as agricultural and food. Its forecast shares of exports for these three sectors at 44 per cent, 23 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

Part of the research also surveyed over 500 C-level and senior leaders around the world.

The survey found that 82 per cent of the corporate leaders surveyed are considering new production locations in Asia, Africa and the Middle East in the next 5-10 years.

StanChart said the findings support the trend towards rebalancing to emerging markets and greater risk diversification of supply chains.

Other than that, the research also found a significant trend towards the adoption of sustainable trade practices in response to climate concerns and a rising wave of conscious consumerism, StanChart said.

But while almost 90 per cent of the respondents acknowledged the need to implement these practices across their supply chains, only 34 per cent ranked it as a "top 3" priority for execution over the next 5-10 years, it pointed out.