INDIA OFFERS US$500 BILLION PROJECTS TO MALAYSIAN FIRMS

KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 (Bernama) -- Infrastructure projects in India valued at
US$500 billion are available to Malaysian construction companies, B.N. Reddy,
counsellor (economic and education) at the Indian High Commission, said Monday.

The projects identified include airports, highways and other infrastructure
project over the next five years, he said at the Malaysia-India Business
Conference here.

Reddy said India was also inviting Malaysian firms to be involved in the
development of its US$7 billion Dedicated Freight Corridor.

"We expect a lot of infrastructure and industrial projects to be developed
within the corridor," he said.

Reddy said such collaborations would further raise the existing synergy
between Malaysia and India, thus helping to boost bilateral trade amid the
current economic climate.

With bilateral trade valued at US$10.5 billion last year, he said that trade
and investment between the two countries are expected to see continuing growth,
although the growth is not likely to be as high as 29 percent recorded last
year.

In 2008, India imported US$7.1 billion worth of products from Malaysia,
mostly crude palm oil, while Malaysia imported products worth US$3.4 billion
from India.

"Buying is still there and there is a lot of room for improvement, creating
more movement between the two nations," said Deputy Minister in the Prime
Minister's Department, S.K. Devamany.

He said that Malaysia was also looking to leverage on India's expertise in
the areas of biotechnology, tourism and outsourcing.

Devamany said that India, China and the Middle East would be the main
markets to focus on in order to further stimulate the local economy.

"For the Middle East, we will be focusing on Islamic finance and halal
products, for India we looking on how to collaborate on business development and
for China there is a huge market available there," he said.

Devamany said that Indonesia and Indochina were also in the listed areas
that the government was looking into.

"This is necessary because of the global economic turmoil that we are facing
now. A lot of factories and SMEs (small and medium enterprises) are affected and
we are working to make the economy more stable," he said.

According to Devamany, the move will also help to diversify local players'
portfolio, thus turning them into global players.

"We cannot depend on the traditional markets anymore. We need to value add
and go for niche markets," he said.

-- BERNAMA