Malaysia and India will give a "political push" to their negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement during the New Delhi visit of premier Mohd Najib Tun Razak.
Malaysia and India will give a "political push" to their negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement during the New Delhi visit of premier Mohd Najib Tun Razak aiming to conclude the pact soon.
Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said the India-Malaysia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement will be one of the highlights of Razak's visit to New Delhi beginning January 19.
Razak will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 20.
"We are looking forward to the visit of our prime minister to India. India is a very important country to us and is an important trading partner. The free trade agreement will be one of the highlights of the bilateral talks (with prime minister Manmohan SIngh) during the visit.
The two leaders will give directions on the negotiations. That will provide a good boost to the negotiations," he told visiting Indian journalists here.
A senior ministry official Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria, deputy secretary general (Trade), Ministry of International Trade and Industry said the two leaders will "give a political push to the negotiations and MoUs in various sector. We hope to conclude the bilateral trade agreement by the end of 2010."
Mustapa said officials of the two countries would sit down this month end to discuss the progress made on the pact and also the ways to concluding it.
Asked why the signing of the pact is being delayed, Mustapa said Malaysia and India decided to first implement the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and then concentrate on a bilateral treaty.
"ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement was our first priority. Since it has come into effect from January 1, 2010 we will now begin our negotiations again by this month end. When we sit in January, we will take stock of the status of the negotiations and how far we have made progress," he said, adding that discussions are not that easy.
Asked whether the two countries have set any deadline for concluding the agreement, he said though there are no deadlines set Malaysia hopes that the agreement would be concluded by the end of this year.
Mustapa said Malaysia and India would sign a number of MoUs and agreements during Razak's India visit in the fields of education, construction and trade.
Razak would also meet top business leaders in New Delhi and Chennai and will invite Indian investments in Malaysia. He will also attend the CII Partnership Summit in Chennai on January 22.
He said, small medium enterprises in the fields of engineering, bio-technology and information technology from India should come forward to invest in Malaysia.
"We have big Indian companies like Tata, Reliance and Infosys investing in Malaysia. But we want the smaller ones also to come and invest in Malaysia. India has lots of strength in many fields like engineering, bio-technology, information technology and etc...," he said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}