Malaysia To Host AIFTIS 2025 To Boost Services Productivity, Cut Trade Deficit

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 (Bernama) – Malaysia is poised to play a key role in transforming the services sector within the region by hosting the inaugural ASEAN International Fair for Trade in Services (AIFTIS) on Nov 17-18, 2025.

This event will serve as a platform to enhance productivity, reduce the services trade deficit, and strengthen regional competitiveness, said the Malaysian Services Providers Confederation (MSPC) in a statement today.

The AIFTIS is organised by MSPC in collaboration with the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI). It is supported by the Professional Services Productivity Nexus (PSPN) under the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC). The event will take place at MITI Hall in Kuala Lumpur.

PSPN, one of several Productivity Nexus initiatives under MPC, plays a key role in fostering industry–government collaboration to drive productivity and growth across Malaysia’s professional services sector.

Malaysia recorded a RM11.7 billion services trade deficit in 2024, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), largely due to the country’s reliance on imported expertise.

AIFTIS seeks to reverse this trend by charting a clear roadmap to enhance productivity, develop export-ready service clusters, and position Malaysia as a net exporter of high-value professional services.

This aspiration is aligned with the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030), which includes a dedicated sectoral plan for the Global Services and Professional Services Industry.

The plan emphasises strengthening Malaysia’s export capacity in services, improving competitiveness, expanding digital infrastructure, attracting world-class talent, and accelerating internationalisation

PSPN president Choo Kok Beng said AIFTIS is not just another forum but a call to action.

“Our goal is to translate dialogue into declaration, delivering practical outcomes that cut dependency on imported services, raise the productivity of Malaysia’s services sector, and sharpen our global edge,” he said.

The fair will spotlight six strategic sectors critical to ASEAN’s productivity growth, namely professional services, electrical and electronics, private healthcare, tourism, construction and built environment, as well as sports and recreation.

Each sector will convene targeted roundtables with policymakers, industry leaders, academia and international experts to co-create actionable solutions, with AIFTIS anchored on four strategic productivity pillars comprising talent development, technology adoption, regulatory reform and industry collaboration.

The outcomes from the discussions will be consolidated into the ASEAN Services Cooperation Declaration for regional endorsement, with dedicated working committees for each service sector bringing together representatives from government, industry, professional bodies, training institutions and academia.

This collaborative approach is aimed at advancing the overarching goal of strategically reducing the services trade deficit by 10 per cent annually while increasing each sector’s trade surplus by 10 per cent, in line with the objectives of AIFTIS 2025.

Head of PSPN Secretariat, Mokhzani Aris Mohd Yusoff, said every participating association will leave AIFTIS with a clear mandate to contribute to ASEAN’s services export strategy, reinforce the productivity agenda and advance Malaysia’s ambition to lead in high-value professional services.

The event is expected to generate new export opportunities, spur high-skilled job creation and strengthen cross-border productivity collaboration across ASEAN’s services ecosystem.

— BERNAMA

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