YB Minister, Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed received a courtesy call from German Ambassador, H.E. Dr. Guenter Georg Gruber and Dr Ernst Roeder-Messell, Counsellor for Economic, Commercial and Environmental Affairs Germany at his office.

This afternoon, I had a very successful meeting with my Indian counterpart, the Hon. Minister Anand Sharma, in New Delhi . We discussed the progress of bilateral negotiations to ensure that we are on track to conclude the Malaysia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement as agreed by our Prime Ministers during Dato’ Seri Mohd Najib’s visit in January 2010. Earlier, I met with business leaders representing the Confederation of Indian Industry to exchange views and update them on some measures that Malaysia has taken in response to the issues they raised previously including matters on ease of doing business and visas for Indian expatriates. In between, I also took some time to meet with members of the Malaysian community in New Delhi . I joined the Malaysian Muslim brothers for Friday prayers at the Indonesian Embassy and later in the evening, met the business community for dinner. I am happy to see that they enjoy the highest level of...

 

 

 

India’s economy with her growing middle class of 250 million is expected to grow at no less than 8% annually over the next decade. This spells opportunities for Malaysian businesses especially in ICT, healthcare, infrastructure, food products and services. We continue to maintain good bilateral relations and have a proven track record of operating in India. We encourage more businesses to take advantage of this! During my recent official trip, 18 MoUs were signed between Malaysian and Indian companies. The potential value of investments is estimated at RM1.6 billion. This signals the first steps toward collaboration in key areas which include biotech engineering, petrochemical engineering and aerospace engineering. However, signing on the dotted line is only the start and initiatives must be seen through. Here is where MITI becomes the watchdog and will monitor the progress of these MoUs. Toward this end, MITI has started a...

The Malaysia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (MICECA) will come into effect on 1 July 2011. The free trade agreement addresses issues related to the liberalisation of trade in goods, trade in services, investments and economic cooperation. It is Malaysia’s fourth bilateral FTA after Japan, Pakistan and New Zealand.The benefits provided by MICECA are in addition to those already made available under the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIG) which was implemented on 1 January 2010. Under MICECA, Malaysia and India will progressively reduce or eliminate tariffs on an agreed list of industrial and agricultural products between 1 July 2011 and 31 December 2019. Malaysian exporters will enjoy free duty market access for rubber products, chemical products and electrical equipment from 1 July 2011. Imports from India into Malaysia will enjoy zero or lower duties for live animals and meat, textile materials and manufactures of metal beginning 1 July 2011. For...