The MOU will facilitate marketing collaborations between both parties
LABUAN: Labuan International Business and Financial Centre Incorporated Sdn Bhd (Labuan IBFC), the official marketing agency for the Labuan International Business and Financial Centre, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Shanghai Lin-Gang New Business District Administration Committee (Shanghai Lin-Gang).
The MoU aims to establish bilateral cooperation for market development activities between both jurisdictions, leveraging on opportunities provided within the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) framework.
The RCEP Agreement, which was signed by more than 15 Asia-Pacific countries in November 2020, aims to promote economic interactions between the different enterprises of various RCEP countries and capitalise on regional economies of scale. It also advocates for the aggregation of offshore trade industries, supports trade and cross-border financial services and enhances regional economic integration.
The MoU was signed via the CCB Match Plus platform by Mr. Zhang Xiaoyang, Director of the Division of Finance and Trade Department of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone Lin-Gang Special Area Administration; and Datuk Iskandar Mohd Nuli, Executive Chairman of Labuan IBFC.
The signing, which took place on June 24, 2022, was witnessed by Ms. Hu Bofei, the Deputy General Manager of CCB International Business Department; Ms. Rong Jie, the Director of Cross-Border Matching Division; and Ms. Peng Xiaowei, the Deputy Principal Officer of China Construction Bank Corporation Labuan Branch.
Commenting after the signing ceremony, Datuk Iskandar Mohd Nuli said, “We are honoured to partner with Shanghai Lin-Gang as we seek to make further inroads into the Chinese market. To this end, we are confident that Labuan IBFC’s products, services and structures as well as its progressive regulatory framework and simplified tax structure are well-suited to meet the requirements of our target audience.”
Datuk Iskandar further expressed his gratitude to China Construction Bank Corporation Labuan Branch for enabling this strategic collaboration.
Additionally, Mr. Zhang Xiaoyang said, “ASEAN is the largest trading partner of China, and the Lin-Gang New Area has formed a good foundation for cooperation with all ASEAN member countries.
With the official enforcement of the RCEP agreement, the Lin-Gang New Area will firmly grasp this historical opportunity, to fully leverage on our key advantages of open system, accelerating on cross-border finance services, international trade services, and digital trade, to better serve the national agenda on the One Belt One Road strategy, leading as an important window assisting international enterprises entering into the Chinese market or local Chinese-based enterprises expanding to the global market.”
As Malaysia’s international business and financial centre, Labuan IBFC is a known jurisdiction to Chinese entities as a special zone that facilitates cross-border trades and investments. Currently, Labuan IBFC is home to close to 300 Chinese and Chinese-related companies.