India-Malaysia Trade at Historic Level in 2011

By Manik Mehta MUMBAI, July 2 (Bernama) -- The free trade agreement (FTA) signed between India and Malaysia in July 2011 has propelled bilateral trade to a "historic record level" in 2011, said Malaysian trade commissioner, Noraslan Hadi Abdul Kadir. The Mumbai-based trade commissioner said the two-way trade has benefited considerably from the FTA which made products and services attractive to both trading partners. "Bilateral trade in 2011 reached the highest level ever, surpassing the previous best in 2008. The trade balance was in favour of Malaysia," he told Bernama here on Monday. He said Malaysia also benefited from the FTA between the Asean group and India, thus giving Malaysia's trade with India a "double impetus". Noraslan said two-way trade in 2011 surged by 32.7 per cent to RM38.36 billion (US$12.12 billion) from RM28.91 billion (US$9.13 billion) previously. "This is an all-time record level in trade with India, surpassing the previous best of RM35 billion (US$11.05 billion) in 2008," he said. For the past 10 years, India-Malaysia trade has recorded a 15.6 per cent average total trade growth rate, he said. "India is Malaysia's 11th largest trading partner, the seventh largest export destination and 14th largest source of imports," he said. Major Malaysian exports to India included electrical and electronic products, crude petroleum, palm oil, chemicals and chemical-based products, metal-based products and timber. India's major exports to Malaysia include chemicals/chemical products, metal products, livestock and meat products, electrical and electronics. Meanwhile, Noraslan is aggressively courting Indian companies to attend "Showcase Malaysia" to be held in Pune in October. Some 50 Malaysian companies, showcasing a wide range of products and specialised services, will be participating in the event. He said Pune, a second-tier city, has an excellent infrastructure for industry. "It has a large cluster of foreign companies, particularly from Germany. "A Malaysian company, Inteltium Technology, has a presence here. It assembles electrical components for signals, sensors, alarms and wipers," he said. -- BERNAMA