Malaysia seeks more bilateral trade with Philippines

Malaysia, which already enjoys a favorable trade surplus with the Philippines, continues to seek ways to increase its trade with us following the signing on Monday at the Malaysian Embassy in Makati of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Philippine Guarantee Corp. (PHILGUARANTEE) and the Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and Industries Philippines Inc. (MCCI).

The MOU signing lays the groundwork for more small and medium Malaysian businesses to do business in the Philippines in the export sector, housing and real estate, infrastructure and even in the financial and renewable energy sectors.

By tapping PHILGUARANTEE, which is a government-owned corporation under the Department of Finance that extends credit guarantees to businesses, Malaysian companies can access local financing and reduce their investment risks.

According to PHILGUARANTEE president and CEO Alfredo Pascual, Filipino companies that likewise want to do business in Malaysia can tap the Credit Guarantee Corp. Malaysia Berhad.

Pascual, however, has no information about Philippine firms tapping their Malaysian counterparts.

MCCI president How Han Hui welcomed the signing of the MOU, which he said would help increase bilateral trade between Malaysia and the Philippines and open up more opportunities at a time when existing global trade is undergoing major upheaval and necessitates members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN to band together and improve trade among themselves.

Among the sectors that present opportunities, Mr. How said, are the agriculture sector, infrastructure partnerships and then housing and real estate sector, as well as green financing initiatives for renewable energy.

Among the Malaysian companies that have invested and already do business in the Philippines are Malaysia’s biggest conglomerate, Berjaya Corp. BHD and Malaysian banks Maybank and CIMB.

The Sy-owned BDO Bank is also a major financing partner of Malaysian investors and was represented during the signing ceremony.

Berjaya, according to Berjaya Philippines Inc. CEO Tan Eng Hwa, has been in the Philippines for more than 20 years with a total investment of more than P10 billion. It has investments in hotels, sanitary landfill and in the lottery business – specifically supplying the technology for lottery operations.

“The Philippines has a huge population. It is very good for investors,” Mr. Tan said, describing Filipinos as “friendly people” and the country with “a very favorable economic condition, so we like it here.”

More specifically, the Berjaya Group, through its hotel chain Berjaya Hotels and Resorts, owns and operates the Berjaya Makati Hotel along Makati Avenue. However, it does not intend to expand its hotel business in Manila, noting that the market is already congested.

Its latest investment of more than P1 billion was in the Floridablanca Enviro Corp. sanitary landfill in Pampanga. Mr. Tan revealed that they are eyeing more investments in sanitary landfills with the growth of Philippine cities and towns in the south, particularly in Davao.

It also has an investment in Pinoy Lotto Technology Corp. which provides technical support to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Corp. or PCSO’s lotto operations.

Philippines-Malaysia trade imbalance

As of May 2025, total trade between the Philippines and Malaysia stood at $3.46 billion, posting a 3.9 percent growth, based on figures from the Malaysia External Trade Development Corp. (MATRADE). However, Malaysia’s exports to the Philippines were much higher at $2.53 billion, while its imports from the Philippines amounted to less than $1 billion, or around $930 million.

Malaysia’s major exports to the Philippines are electrical and electronic products, petroleum and palm-oil and palm-oil based products.

The Philippines’ trade with Malaysia involves semiconductors and electrical and electronic products, as well as agricultural and machinery products.

According to Ambassador Melvin Castelino, the Philippines and Malaysia “enjoy a strong bilateral trade valued at $8.325 billion in 2024. Malaysia is also the Philippines’ ninth largest trading partner and its eight largest source of approved foreign investments.”

The MOU signing, he said, “speaks directly to priorities, namely empowering MSMEs and investments and building a resilient, rules-based financial ecosystem. We are not simply building economic ties, we are shaping a regional future based on trust, mutual benefit and shared prosperity.”

A growth area for trade and business, according to the Malaysian envoy is the halal food industry and tourism in which both Malaysia and the Philippines have a strong common interest due to their strong Muslim communities – for the Philippines particularly in Mindanao.

Ambassador Castelino cited the growing interest in promoting halal cuisine in the Philippines and also the desire to attract more halal tourists in terms of food preparation and providing certain facilities that will respect the need of Muslim tourist visitors in terms of access to common bathing areas.

The Department of Tourism has been exerting more effort to attract tourists from our ASEAN neighbors such as Malaysia and Thailand, and even from Asian neighbor India as well, which likewise has some unique religious and cultural requirements.

The Malaysian ambassador was pleased, however, that more and more Philippine hotels are expanding their food offerings to include more halal-prepared and certified cuisine that can cater to Muslim tourists.

It is unfortunate though that while Malaysia is doing its part to increase trade with the Philippines, our government seems quite passive to let its partners tap our market while we do not step up in helping more Filipino companies do cross border trade.

It seems our government is content with us patronizing our neighbors’ products more than promoting our own. Wake up Department of Trade and Industry! We are getting left behind.