Expansion of trade
The pursuit of trade has been a commonplace activity in Southeast Asia for several thousand years. At the beginning of recorded history, Southeast Asians were already engaged in long-distance barter trade. The people of the Malay Peninsula were strategically situated to participate in this trade, due to both the demand for local products and to the Peninsula's location on regional trade routes. At the beginning of the first millennium CE, the volume of trade between Southeast Asia and the two flanking regions of India and China began to expand, bringing many benefits to the people of Malaysia.
- Information in the full article includes
- Early international trade
- Domestic and regional trade patterns
- The lure of gold
- The rise of regional maritime travel