India Firms Eye Further Business Opportunities In Malaysia -- Mustapa

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 (Bernama) – Indian companies are interested to explore further business opportunities in Malaysia, especially in the areas of pharmaceutical, textile, food processing, petrochemical and digital economy, said Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). In a statement Tuesday, the Minister of International Trade and Industry, Mustapa Mohamed, said the companies were bullish to explore further opportunities in Malaysia. “They have cited our ease of doing business as one of the key factors. Moving ahead we must continue to remain visible and be connected to the world. “With the facilitation provided by the ministry through Malaysian Investment Development Authority and Malaysia External Trade Development Corp, we hope the collaborations between the two countries in these areas will be further intensified and numerous economic opportunities will be unlocked,” he said. He said the ministry has successfully concluded its trade and investment mission to Mumbai, India today and would continue to position Malaysia as the gateway for Indian companies to penetrate the ASEAN market. “The mission to Mumbai is imperative to maintain Malaysia’s strong profile in India as well as to continuously showcase the country’s economic success,” he said. Mustapa said he also had a meeting with Samarth Life Sciences in Mumbai, a globally-renowned pharmaceutical company from India whereby the company has handed over its application letter for its planned investment of RM200 million, including the land in Sungai Petani, Kedah which it had bought earlier. He said India was an important trading partner to Malaysia with total trade stood at RM57 billion in the period of January-November 2017, up by 28 per cent compared to similar period last year. On the investments front, he said, Malaysia’s total stock of investments in India amounted to RM17.1 billion while India’s wAS Was still relatively small. MITI said the International Monetary Fund has projected India, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$2.3 trillion (US$1 = RM3.92) and population of 1.3 billion, to be the fastest growing economy in the world at least for the next two years. “Its real GDP growth is expected to average at 7.5 per cent until 2022 – driven by the expansion of its formal economy and increase in public infrastructure spending. “The Indian Government is also embarking on a number of key initiatives such as ‘Make in India’ which aims to raise the contribution of its manufacturing sector to 25 per cent of GDP by 2025 as well as Digital India that is meant to improve internet connectivity and online infrastructure across the country,” he said. -- BERNAMA