Malaysia Asserted Position As Leading Asean Exporting Nation To Germany In 2009

By Manik Mehta

BERLIN, Feb 24 (Bernama) -- Despite the lower Asean-Germany overall trade last year, Malaysia continued to assert its position as the regional grouping's number one exporting nation to Germany in 2009.

Germany, Malaysia's biggest market in the European Union, was "ousted" incidentally by China as the world's top exporting nation in 2009.

Malaysia's exports to Germany, which surged in 2008, recorded 10.7 per cent decline from 4.47 billion Euros in 2008 down to 3.99 billion Euros in 2009.

Malaysia's imports from Germany also fell by 18.1 per cent, down from 3.95 billion in 2008 to 3.23 billion Euros in 2009.

Malaysia was followed by number two Singapore among Asean countries, registering 13.0 per cent drop in exports to Germany.

Singapore's exports fell from 3.80 billion Euros in 2008 to 3.30 billion euros in 2009 while its imports from Germany declined by 7.8 per cent from 5.30 billion euros to 4.90 billion euros.

Other Asean member countries like Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam also recorded a slide in their trade with Germany. Indeed, the overall Asean-Germany two-way trade registered a sharp drop.

Asean's total exports to Germany amounted to 16.96 billion euros, down 12.4 per cent from 19.36 billion euros in 2008 while the grouping's imports from Germany recorded a 11.8 per cent low from 15.56 billion euros in 2008 to 13.72 billion euros in 2009.

Thailand, which ranks third in Asean as Germany's trading partner, recorded a 13.6 per cent plunge in its exports to Germany, down from 3.14 billion euros in 2008 to 2.95 billion euros in 2009.

Thailand imported German goods worth 2.10 billion euros in 2009, a 16.4 per cent down from 2.52 billion euros in 2008.

German exports to the Asia-Pacific region in 2009 amounted to 92.22 billion euros, down 4.5 per cent from 96.59 billion in 2008.

But German trade progressed well in 2009 with China which ended buying seven per cent more German goods.

Germany's overall exports to the entire Asian contingent accounted for more than 10 per cent of Germany's overall exports.

While Germany's total exports in 2009 dropped 17.9 per cent, the 4.5 per cent decline in German exports to the Asia-Pacific region appears quite moderate. The main driver for demand for German goods was China.

Germany's exports to China rose by seven per cent to 36.5 billion euros, much of the growth coming in the fourth quarter of 2009 which showed a 20 per cent growth and compensated for the steady decline earlier resulting from the economic crisis.

Indeed, China's share in absorbing the total German exports increased by over one per cent to 4.5 per cent in 2009; China's ranking as importer of German products rose from 11th to 8th spot in 2009.

The share of the entire Asian region in German exports rose to 11.4 per cent, up from 9.8 per cent in 2008.

The council underscores the growing importance of the Asian markets for Germany's exports, particularly against the backdrop of negative developments in other regions of the world.

Besides China, according to the council, other smaller countries in Asia such as Vietnam, Bangladesh (each posting a 11.5 per cent growth), and Brunei (+ 15.5 per cent) also absorbed more German exports.

Other big buyers of German products such as India (-2.4 per cent), Taiwan (-20 per cent), Japan (-15.3 per cent) and South Korea (-10.6 per cent) recorded lower imports from Germany.