VAST UNTAPPED POTENTIALS FOR M'SIA, CANADA BUSINESSES - HIGH COMMISSIONER

From Sh Nur Shahrizad Sy Mohamed Sharer

MONTREAL, Sept 20 (Bernama) -- Malaysian agencies are intensifying efforts to
attract Canadian investors as there are still vast business potentials yet to be
explored by both countries, Malaysian High Commissioner to Canada Selwyn Das
said.

He said the Malaysian High Commission's office and agencies such as the
Malaysian Industrial Development Authority and Malaysia External Trade
Development Corporation had been promoting Malaysia as an investment destination
for Canadian companies.

"We have set up a business council in Vancouver and revived our business council
in Toronto as there have been an increase in the number of enquiries among
Canadian investors on the benefit of investing in Malaysia," he told Bernama
here.

Das, who is based in Ottawa, was here to receive the Malaysian King Tuanku Mizan
Zainal Abidin and his consort Tuanku Nur Zahirah who arrived here Saturday for a
six-day special task visit to Canada.

According to him, members of the Canadian business community have been showing
good response to business forums and meetings organised by Matrade.

There were many areas which the business fraternities of both countries could
tap into had they been aware of the potentials, said Das who was posted to
Canada in February last year after a stint as Malaysia's first High Commissioner
to Kenya, with accreditation to Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi and Tanzania.

"Malaysia is regarded as an attractive investment destination but the problem is
many are not aware of the investment opportunities available in Malaysia and
vice-versa," he said.

Das also said the Malaysian High Commission had been receiving enquiries from
Canadian members of parliament who were interested in conducting business visit
to Malaysia.

However, distance had been identified as among the contributing factors that
resulted in the low business interest among Malaysian and Canadian
entrepreneurs, he said.

On bilateral trade, he said Malaysia's total trade with Canada was RM6.2 billion
in 2008.

However the trade volume between both countries dropped to about RM5 billion
last year due to the global economic condition, he said.

Among the most common traded items and commodities between the two countries are
fertilizers, electrical appliances, hardware and machinery for telecommunication
projects.

Malaysia and Canada also share good relations in education and tourism industry
as indicated by the rising number of Malaysian students in Canadian universities
and Canadian tourists visiting Malaysia.

Das said at the moment there were 883 Malaysian students in 45 universities
across Canada.

Some 88,000 Canadian tourists visited Malaysia last year compared to 77,000 in
2008.

On the King's visit to the country, Das said, it would further enhance
collaboration in education.
-- BERNAMA



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