Published June 1, 2009

Malaysia-India bilateral trade seen growing

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(KUALA LUMPUR) The current economic crisis has not dampened bilateral trade between Malaysia and India and the two nations expect an increase in trade growth in comparison to last year.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told a press conference on Saturday that in the first half of the year, trade between the two countries stood at RM5.2 billion (S$2.2 billion) compared with RM8.1 billion seen the whole of last year.

'Even through the economic crisis, we can expect an increase in bilateral trade between Malaysia and India. We can probably achieve a total of RM10 billion to RM11 billion in bilateral trade.

'A recently concluded joint study has indicated that the two countries could catapult bilateral trade to RM16 billion by 2012,' explained Mr Ismail after launching the Seventh Global Indian Festival 2009 (formerly known as the Global Indian Shopping Festival) here, today.

'The implementation of the trade goods in agreement under the Asean-India FTA in early 2009 would help boost trade. Indian businesses will be able to use Malaysia as a base for entry into the Asean market,' he noted.

Malaysia is geo-strategically located in South-east Asia and is in an advantageous position as the gateway for Indian companies to penetrate other markets in the region, Mr Ismail further clarified.

Other areas of possible bilateral cooperation between the two nations include a collaboration with Indian institutions of higher learning for joint research and research centres.

'Malaysia and India have identified petroleum and gas, processed food, animal feed, petrochemical, oleo chemicals and medicine as potential sectors for intra industry.

'Trade and healthcare, education, IT and telecommunications, finance, tourism, architecture, construction and engineering and distribution and human resource development are other key areas for collaboration between India and Malaysia,' said Mr Ismail.

Touching on the consumer portal Price Watch, Mr Ismail admitted that in the beginning the portal experienced too much traffic and was currently undergoing an upgrade to ensure better service.

'Consumers will be able to compare prices of goods sold. This will help standardise the prices of goods sold in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak,' Mr Ismail explained.

Regarding rumours of Hindraf rallies and riots, Mr Ismail dismissed the rumours and stated that Hindraf did not represent the entire Indian ethnic community in Malaysia.

He also advised the public not to listen to rumours because any gatherings could be remote incidents and stressed that they have not affected Malaysia-India ties. -- Bernama