India-Malaysia trade set to soar to $25 bn in next 3 years: Indian envoy

Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia, BN Reddy, announced ambitious plans for India-Malaysia bilateral trade, aiming to reach USD 25 billion in the next three years. Currently standing at USD 20 billion, the trade relationship is poised for growth, with a focus on economic sustainability.

In an interaction with ANI, the Indian envoy emphasised the significance of economic ties, saying, "In any relationship, the real sustenance comes from economic and trade relations." He highlighted India's import of various commodities from Malaysia, including palm oil, crude oil, and LNG.

"The bilateral trade between India and Malaysia, currently at 20 billion dollars, will increase to 25 billion dollars in the next three years," Reddy said, adding, "But we do import quite a lot of commodities from Malaysia, including palm oil, crude oil, and LNG."

Reflecting on the 65 years of diplomatic relations, Reddy mentioned the ongoing efforts to realise the enhanced strategic partnership established during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2015 visit to Malaysia. He stressed the comprehensive nature of the relationship, covering the entire spectrum.

"We are in the process of now realising the enhanced strategic partnership that was established during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015, where it was decided that our engagement with Malaysia would be taken to newer heights, wherein covering the entire spectrum of the relationship," Reddy added.

With Malaysia hosting the second-largest Indian-origin community, the Indian envoy noted the diverse linguistic and cultural ties that provide a natural bridge for deeper engagement.

"Put it in a nutshell, Malaysia has the second largest population of Indian-origin community. I would say there is a mini-India here even though Tamil speakers are the largest, but you also have the Malayalam, Telugu, Punjabi, Gujarati, and Odiya speaking populations, which provides a natural bridge for us to engage with Malaysia more deeply," he also said.

Recent high-level meetings, including the Joint Commission meeting and Defence Secretary-level talks, have facilitated a comprehensive review of the relationship.

"We had the joint commission meeting held in Delhi earlier this month led by External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, with the Malaysian Foreign Minister in Delhi. Prior to that, we had the Defence secretary-level talks in Delhi to review the entire defence corporation and we had the visit of Raksha Mantri. Ever since the new Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim took office in November last year we've already had eight ministers and deputy ministers from Malaysia visit India. And we had two of our ministers come here. Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh coming into Malaysia end of this week," he further said.

Reddy highlighted key areas for potential collaboration, such as renewable energy and the semiconductor sector. Malaysian company Petron has already invested billions of dollars in the renewable energy sector in India. Plans for a Malaysia-India Digital Council and an Annual Energy Dialogue further underscore the commitment to expanding collaboration.

"In the last six months, Malaysian company Petron has announced close to four and a half billion US dollars in the renewable energy sector in India," Reddy said, adding, "We're going to start another thing called Annual Energy Dialogue. Given the significant emphasis of both countries and having already close to USD 4 billion bilateral trade in fossil fuels, particularly oil and gas, we want to expand it to renewable energy."

The Indian High Commissioner expressed optimism about the growing relationship, emphasising political understanding between the two governments. He concluded, "Our effort is to truly realise this potential, ensuring a balanced relationship that benefits both countries.