5th March, 2010

The Malaysia-Europe Forum Spring Dialogue on March 2nd in Munich was a great success! More than 200 participants talked about the opportunities of the Green Economy in Malaysia.


Only a few months ago, in November 2009, the Malaysia-Europe Forum (MEF) was founded as an exchange platform for German and Malaysian business partners. This week, on March 2nd, the first MEF Spring Dialogue took place in Munich. The event was a great success. More than 200 participants followed the call of the organizers and learned more about the trends in the market for renewable energy in Malaysia. Among the organizers was GBP International Sdn Bhd, a consulting company that specializes in strategic and operational consulting work for companies with business interests in Asia and Europe. Mr Volker Friedrich, founder of GBP International and the only German in the Board of Trustees of the MEF, drew a positive conclusion of the event: "We were pleasantly surprised at how high the interest in this event was," said Friedrich, "The high attendance shows that we hit a nerve with experts from politics and economics. This can be seen as a first step with more coming up, because there is a lot more useful background information on Malaysia, a topic that we could only briefly touch on in Munich. "The Malaysian market is often underestimated, but offers great opportunities, particularly as a springboard into India and China. Especially for European SMEs that want to avoid the risks of a direct entry into these markets. The Malaysia-Europe Forum will support the efforts of the Malaysian authorities with regular events in Europe.

The conference covered a wide range of topics. The Malaysian minister for Green Technology, Energy & Water, Dato' Sri Peter Chin, spoke about the upcoming introduction of a Feed-In-Tariff in Malaysia, which will be similar to the structure of the German Renewable-Energy-Act. The minister was impressed by the German technologies and their concepts for the implementation of these. A visit to the German town Freiburg led him to the “hub” of the German Renewable Energies. "We want to have many Freiburgs in Malaysia" - he concluded with the hope of increased German investments.

In the various presentations held, an overview of the prospects, opportunities and challenges that the green economy in Malaysia offers was conveyed. A special focus lay on a practical display of the opportunities, so that the participants were provided with concrete ideas and hands-on support for business projects in Malaysia.

The energy industry – and above all the renewable energies - plays a key role in Malaysia, which is why it is systematically promoted by the state. German companies that commit to this future market at an early stage are likely to encounter a comprehensive field of activity, not least due to the technological know-how. According to Mr Friedrich, the potential of the Malaysian market is obvious: "The Malaysian economy is expected to grow at a rate of 3.5 to 4.5 percent in 2010. In the Energy Industry a growth in demand of about 5 percent is expected. The focus of governmental funding will be mainly on biomass, solar and hydropower. A trade fair for renewable energy in October is a good opportunity for the German companies to inform themselves locally in Malaysia" The next event of the Malaysia-Europe Forum will take place in London in October 2010 and will focus on the topic "Urban Mobility"