The Hindu Business Line : Bidding for projects in other countries

Officials of India and Malaysia exchanging documents in the presence of the Malaysian Prime Minister, Mr Abdullah Ahmad (centre), Mr K K Swamy, Chairman, CII, Karnataka State council (right), and Mr S.N Agarwal, Chairman, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, in Bangalore on Wednesday. — G.R.N. Somashekar

Bangalore , Dec. 22

MALAYSIA is keen on forging an alliance with India to bid for projects in other countries in the technology and services sector. It is also interested in taking a look at the prospects in India, particularly in business process outsourcing, bio-technology, pharmaceuticals, the film industry and higher education.

Stating this here on Wednesday, the Malaysian Prime Minister, Mr Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that the two countries, with their fast growing strength in IT and other areas, could accelerate the growth in bilateral trade and economic relations.

Mr Ahmad was addressing the Confederation of Indian Industry (Karnataka). He said he was awaiting the Prime Minister, Mr Manmohan Singh's visit to his country to give shape to the aspirations of the two countries in adding a new dimension to the proposed Free Trade Agreement by including a comprehensive list of areas such as education, human resource development and agriculture.

The Malaysian Prime Minister said he had extended an invitation to Mr Manmohan Singh to visit his country. He said both Indian and Malaysia shared similar aspirations and achievements to be recognised as the fastest growing economies. He added that Malaysia had made rapid strides in its ambitious project of the Multimedia Super Corridor, which signified the country's vision to emerge as a strong developed country.

He drew the similarities between Bangalore and Malaysia and was confident that they could harness their strengths in skill sets, IT infrastructure and education to realise their vision of eliminating poverty and disease, reinforce modernity and establish a strong imprint internationally in this age of rapid globalisation.

Earlier, Mr K. K. Swamy, Chairman of CII (Karnataka) and Mr S. N. Agarwal, Chairman of Karnataka State Council, FICCI, highlighted the potential for exploring newer areas for economic cooperation. They said that huge opportunities in diverse sectors were yet to be tapped between the two countries.

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