The Hindu Business Line : Malaysia keen to expand trade with India; wants more items included

Malaysia wants bilateral trade with India to expand and include items such as telecom equipment and parts, automobile parts, rubber-based products, furniture, plastic products, hospital and surgical equipment and products and services in areas such as construction, education, healthcare and banking.

Currently bilateral trade, estimated at about $5.6 billion (about Rs 22,400 crore) between January and September, is dominated by items such as chemicals, metal products, electrical and electronics products, formulations, petroleum products and palm oil.

“We have completed a joint feasibility study in this direction for structuring the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement between India and Malaysia that will be launched in January,” said Ms Norlin Othman, Acting Commissioner of Malaysia, who read out the speech of the Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry, Ms Rafidah Aziz, at the seminar on ‘Trade and investment mission to India’, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation.

Ms Aziz, who was to participate had to return to Malaysia due to personal reasons, Ms Othman said.

Trade with Chennai

Ms Othman also stressed on the need to improve trade with Chennai. The city currently accounts for about 10 per cent of Indian trade with Malaysia and collaboration could be explored in areas such as automobile parts and products, electronic automation components, design and manufacture of engines and transmission systems and production of specialised machines and equipment, she said.

“There is a scope for joint development in areas like making plastic and tools machinery, robotics and construction and allied services,” she said.

Construction projects

Malaysia in recent years has completed construction projects worth $2.2 billion (about Rs 8,800 crore) in Chennai and is currently working on four projects totally worth about $78 million (about Rs 312 crore). Malaysia has so far completed 39 infrastructure projects in India and is currently working on 18 projects.

Mr M.F. Farooqui, Secretary, Industries Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, said India was planning to invest over $50 billion (Rs 2 lakh crore) in developing highways and road infrastructure over the next 10 years and Malaysian companies could eye a piece of this pie.

The Malaysian delegation was represented by industries such as banking, construction, manufacturing, information communication technology, healthcare and franchising.

Discrimination issue

Responding to a query on the recent issue of discrimination of people of Indian origin in Malaysia, Mr R. Karunakaran, General Director, Malaysian Industrial Development Authority, said the media had “blown up the matter” by carrying statements of people who “did not understand the issue.”

“There is no discrimination. I am a third generation Tamil born and brought up in Malaysia.

“If there was discrimination, I would not be heading a government department,” he said.

Responding to industrialists’ concerns of doing business in such political climate, he said companies could be assured of complete government support and were unlikely to face any disruptions in running their operations.

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