Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Nov 11, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Nov 11, 2003 |
|
|
|
|
|
Industry & Economy
-
Foreign Trade Malaysia keen on joint venture projects Our Bureau
Kolkata , Nov. 10 MALAYSIAN companies are keen on joint ventures in India in areas such as road and highways construction, township development and water treatment plants. This can come about provided good partnerships can be established on the basis of "good faith, clean contracts and a highly co-operative Government". Talking to newspersons here on Monday, Dato' S.K. Choo, High Commissioner of Malaysia to India, said Malaysian companies were actively pursuing new business opportunities in the road construction sector, particularly in Bengal. Conceding that it was too much to expect all Indian States to project uniform development on the physical infrastructure front, he said the Malaysian companies were looking at various segments such as sea-front property development, information technology and also transfer of technology in palm oil, in which Malaysia was a world leader. He stressed on the need to create conditions for attracting overseas investments in the housing sector, which had a wholly different social dimension. In the same breadth, he also mentioned that local conditions, from the logistics point of view, have to be conducive to joint venture projects. He also appreciated the Government's move to welcome 100 per cent equity in airport development projects. On the IT front, he clarified that Malaysia would like to focus on the hardware segment, as they have already established a world class Cybercity in the State of Selangor, adjacent to the Federal capital of Kuala Lumpur. These companies, which have international experience, will take up contracts in segments and where conditions which meet their requirements exist. Asked about his talks with the Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, , he said the CM was keen that Malaysia should have direct flights to Kolkata. Dato' Choo said under the recent Asean India agreement, there were seven flights daily to Kolkata, but various factors from a competitive angle have to be looked into first before taking a decision on introduction of direct MAS (Malaysian Airlines System) flights. Issues like dry lease of aircraft have to be worked out first, he said. "We are still on a learning curve," he added. The envoy also expressed the hope that India's traditional large palm oil purchases from Malaysia, world's largest producer of palm oil, would enter a new phase, especially now that the qualities of this edible oil have been established beyond any doubt in the international arena. He suggested a regime of lower import duties in this regard, especially since India was its biggest export market for palm oil. Speaking at the interactive session organised by the CII, Eastern Region, here, Dato' Choo said, ``Business culture was somewhat different compared to culture per se, and mere lip service would not do in the area of trade relations". Besides construction projects in Bengal, Malaysian companies were now engaged in property development in States such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, he added.
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|