India and Malaysia CEO forum launched

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI) have jointly launched the Malaysia and India CEO forum in Mumbai.

The forum aims to bring CEOs from Malaysia and India together to promote business understanding and enhance participation through investment in both the countries.

The forum will have12 CEOs each from both the countries who would meet at regular intervals to discuss business and investment issues.

Launching the forum, the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak said, "India is Malaysia's 14th largest trading partner with bilateral trade values at over $5 billion last year. Though the progress in bilateral trade has been encouraging I look forward to new joint ventures between Indian and Malaysian businesses to strengthen the links between the two countries."

He also pointed out that following the successful conclusion of an ASEAN-India FTA which is currently being negotiated, Malaysia will become the perfect launching pad and a gateway for Indian businesses to enter the lucrative ASEAN market.

To facilitate trade ties between the two countries, Malaysia will soon be establishing a visa office in Mumbai and it is also looking at issuing multiple entry visas to Indian businessmen.

He also said that Malaysia was positive about opening up palm cultivation in India and would also like to participate in the construction of medium cost hotels, if the land costs were relaxed.

Also, there is scope for further interaction between the two countries with Malaysian infrastructure development companies participating in Indian SEZs, cross-border SME JVs, Indian firms from the banking and insurance sectors taking equity positions in Malaysian banks and insurance companies and two-way traffic in the services sector, he added.