Malaysia's Exim Bank Expands Into India

By Saraswathi Muniappan MUMBAI (India), June 7 (Bernama) -- Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Bhd (Exim Bank) has signed a collaborative deal with Indian banks namely, ICICI Bank Ltd and YES Bank, to further enhance Malaysia-India trade especially for palm oil. Through this collaboration, Exim Bank will provide credit lines to ICICI Bank, which is India's largest private sector bank and YES Bank, to facilitate the imports of goods from Malaysia. "It is hoped with this enabling financing infrastructure, Exim Bank can partake in increasing the movement of goods and services between the two countries," Exim Bank managing director and chief executive officer, Adissadikin Ali said in a statement here. Although, the facility is open to all manufactured goods and commodities from Malaysia, it is envisaged that palm oil will be among the leading sector that will benefit from the scheme in view of the importance of Indian market to Malaysia's palm oil. Through this financing scheme, Exim Bank seeks to improve the competitiveness of Malaysia's products internationally. Subsequent to the deal in India, Exim Bank is expected to replicate the scheme in other economies as well. Palm oil plays a significant role in the trade structure between the two countries. Malaysia exported more than 1.82 million tonnes of palm oil products to India in 2011, valued at US$1.90 billion (RM6.03 billion). Dompok, who is on a five-day working visit to India, witnessed the signing of the collaboration. -- BERNAMA