Taiwan has formally called upon the Malaysian government to commence negotiations aimed at updating the Malaysia–Taiwan Bilateral Investment Agreement (BIA), originally signed in 1993, to better align with the current global investment environment.
Dr Lien Yu-Ping, representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia, stated that the Bilateral Investment Agreement, in effect for more than three decades, comprises only ten provisions and has yet to be revised to address contemporary investment requirements.
“When we are talking about the supply chain movement, there is a need to protect the intellectual property rights and technology transfer. But in the old BIA, we cannot find any protection regarding this. Another example, if our company wants to inject its capital from a third country, this kind of investment is also not protected in the old BIA,” she told Bernama.
Lien emphasized that the global investment landscape has undergone substantial changes, particularly with the large-scale relocation of supply chains as companies expand internationally alongside their ecosystem partners. She noted that a stronger legal framework for investment protection is urgently required to attract greater Taiwanese investment, and an updated BIA would help modernize Malaysia’s investment framework while encouraging increased inflows of high-value Taiwanese technology investments.
According to Lien, Taiwan has already initiated discussions on renewing the Investment Agreement under the Malaysia-Taiwan Economic Cooperation framework, involving talks between Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Malaysia’s Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry at the director-general level.
However, she affirmed that engagement at a higher level is needed to more effectively address wider investment-related concerns, including labor and work visa issues.
Lien also expressed confidence that Taiwan could contribute advanced technologies and support the development of a broader industrial ecosystem and cluster in Malaysia.
Bilateral trade between Taiwan and Malaysia rose 32.3% year-on-year to $57.4 billion (RM225.8 billion) last year. Taiwan has since become Malaysia’s fourth-largest trading partner and seventh-largest source of foreign direct investment, contributing to the creation of more than 470,000 jobs in the country.
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