KOTA KINABALU, May 4 (Bernama) - Western Australia (WA) ways the level of cooperation with Malaysia is excellent and hopes that trade relations will continue to grow.

Director of South West Group cum South West Corridor Development Foundation Inc, Chris Fitzhardinge, said bilateral trade amounted to A$2 billion(A$1=RM2.92) over the last 12 months.

He said Malaysia's export to WA were valued at A$1.38 billion while Malaysia's imports from WA were worth A$690 million during the period.

The Malaysian Exports were petroleum, electronic equipment and manufactured goods while Malaysian imports from WA were mostly livestock and engineering services, he said.

"This shows a positive relationship and strong trade ties between Malaysia and Western Australia.  This augurs well for trade relations," he told reporters after a presentation on South Metropolitan Region's Capabilities and Investment Opportunities in WA to potential investors here today.

Fitzhardinge said Malaysia was amoung the world's top 10 trade partners and the third largest tourist market for WA.

"We see a lot of potential investors coming from Malayisa to invest in WA, including from Sabah."

"That's why we set up a Sabah Western Australia Trade Centre (SWATC) in Sabah two years ago to boost trade relations between Kota Kinabalu City and WA," he said.

He said SWATC's strategic objective was to stimulate bilateral trade between the regions. paving the way for strong economic linkages.

"It seeks to engage small businesses in trade opportunities by partnering with other small businesses or with large companies he said.

Meanwhile, regional director of the Western Australia Trade Office in Kuala Lumpur, Verghese Jacob, said  most of the WA investors were interested in investing in livestock in Sabah and Sarawak.

He said the two states had vast tracts of land suitable for livestock activities and were freed of foot and mouth disease.

Another potential investment area, he said, was in education.

"Last year, there were 4,312 Malaysian students in WA.

"The Polytechnic of Western Australia offers associate degree courses in hospitality management, business and aviation," he said - BERNAMA

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