Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has vowed to strengthen trade ties with India and pay “great attention” to helping the Indian diaspora in the multi-ethnic nation.
“I believe in developing this country on an inclusive basis. I will pay great attention to helping the Indian community,” Najib said at the launch of the 1st World Kongu Tamilar Conference here yesterday.
Ethnic Indians form eight per cent of Malaysia’s 28 million people.
The event was organised by the Malaysia Kongu Tamilar Association, which represents 80,000 of the 200,000 Kongu Tamilar in the country.
Addressing the foreign delegates, Najib reaffirmed his commitment to further strengthening bilateral trade between Malaysia and India.
“I believe there are many, many more opportunities for our two countries to work together, and I encourage all our visitors to think of Malaysia as a gateway to Asean,” he said.
Najib, who is also the Finance Minister, pointed out that India has been Malaysia’s largest export destination in the South Asian region since 1998.
Trading partner
From 2003 to 2015, trade increased by more than fourfold.
Last year, India was Malaysia’s tenth largest trading partner.
Najib said thousands of jobs were created in local manufacturing projects with Indian participation.
Malaysia’s direct investments in India were valued at $77 billion (Dh283 billion) in 2014.
“We signed the Malaysia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement in 2011, and declared an Enhanced Strategic Partnership last November, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit,” Najib noted.
