CII mulls office in Malaysia
Thursday, 17 October 2002, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is mulling an office in Malaysia, the second in the ASEAN region. The industry lobby had made a commitment to open an office in Malaysia last year during the visit of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. "The office would help in strengthening bilateral relations between Malaysia and India as also India and the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)," the CII said in a statement Wednesday. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad is currently in India to attend the two-day India-ASEAN Business Summit that is to be inaugurated here Thursday by Vajpayee. Malaysia is India's largest trading partner in South Asia, with the two-way trade totalling $2.35 billion in 2000-01. Indian exports to Malaysia have been valued at $772.42 million and imports from Malaysia at $1.58 billion. The balance of trade has been in Malaysia's favour owing to large scale imports by India of Malaysian palm oil ranging from between 20-33 percent of Malaysia's total production. A recent CII study pointed out the need to remove trade barriers between India and the ASEAN countries. The sectors that have been identified for cooperation between the two regions are IT services, transportation, technical and management educational services, environment, waste management treatment, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and tourism among others. The CII office in Malaysia would focus on these sectors. Malaysia is among the top eight investors in India on the basis of total FDI approvals from 1991-2000 amounting to $1.56 billion.
Source: IANS
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