Meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture of Malaysia

On June 14th, we were very well received by Mr. Ardhy, at the Ministry of Agriculture in the city of Kuala Lumpur, Capital of Malaysia.

He told us about the excellent relationship that Malaysia has with the Government of Brazil and that many slaughterhouses in our country are already approved by the Halal method.

Malaysia is an Asian country that has grown, on average, over 5.0% in the last decade. This growth enabled the country to reach a per capita income of US$ 10.8 thousand in 2014, placing it as a middle-income country very close to Brazil's. Malaysia's foreign sales totaled US$ 234.13 billion in 2014. The oil industry was responsible for about a quarter of the country's total exports (US$ 51.73 billion). The main oil products exported by Malaysia were: gas (US$ 20.88 billion); non-crude petroleum oil ($18.46 billion); crude oil (US$ 10.52 billion). In addition to petroleum products, other prominent products in Malaysia's export basket were: integrated electronic circuits ($31.03 billion), machinery ($23.17 billion) and palm oil ($11.99 billion). On the other hand, Malaysian imports were US$ 208.82 billion, with approximately half of these purchases being electronic equipment (US$ 53.39 million), fuel (US$ 35.14 million) and machinery (US$ 22.45 billion).

With this trade flow, Malaysia's trade balance became a surplus of US$ 25.31 billion in 2014. This surplus was a constant in the country's trade balance over the last 15 years, growing from US$ 14.93 billion in 2001 to reach US$ 25.31 billion in 2014, with the biggest surplus occurring in 2008, at US$ 43.04 billion. Malaysia also had a trade surplus with Brazil, with Brazilian exports to Malaysia reaching US$ 1.55 billion in 2014, while imports in the same year were US$ 1.90 billion, resulting in a Brazilian trade deficit with Malaysia of US$ 352 million. The most significant trade flow between Brazil and Malaysia took place in 2010, with Brazil importing US$ 2.29 billion in Malaysian products and exporting US$ 1.62 billion, leading to a deficit of US$ 639 million.