Tan Ah Yong, director, Malaysian Industrial Development Authority, on his recent visit to Chennai said that there exists tremendous possibilities of technical and joint venture collaboration between India and Malaysia.
Asked about the specific areas of cooperation, Yong said maximum opportunity exists between Tamil Nadu and Malaysian companies engaged in machinery and equipment sub-sectors like machine tools, plastic injection machines, material handling equipment, robotics and factory automation equipment, packaging machinery and specialised equipment for specific industrial sectors.
Yong was in Chennai with a 14-member Malaysian Specific Project Mission to India.
Tamil Nadu with its large pool of engineers and engineering industries was high on the agenda of the delegation. The MIDA delegation members after visiting select engineering industries in Chennai, remarked that Malaysia was very keen on tie-ups with the states' engineering industry.
Besides, the delegation said, a lot of potential for trade and investments exist between the SMEs in Tamil Nadu and Malaysia in the areas of light engineering, agro and food processing, garments, electronics, drugs and pharmaceuticals, and machinery and equipment.
Malaysia also has well-developed engineering supporting industry, especially in the sub-sectors of mould and dyes, metal casting, machining, metal stamping, surface treatment/finishing and heat treatment. Hence collaboration between Indian and Malaysian companies in the above industries for both domestic and international markets could prove very fruitful and go a long way in further developing these industrial sub-sectors in Malaysia.
Malaysia currently imports machinery and equipment worth almost $7 billion and exports about $ 3 billion of the same.
Elaborating upon the priority status accorded by the Government of Malaysia towards the development of the machinery and supporting industriy sector in the country, Yong, acknowledged India's advancement in these sectors and urged Indian businessmen to take advantage of the favorable investment climate and fiscal incentives offered by Malaysia.
Yong also highlighted the advantages of locating engineering industries in Malaysia, which as a member of the ASEAN Free Trade Area, provided a gateway to a market of over 500 million people with a combined GDP of $582.4 billion and total trade of $733.7 billion as per 2002 estimates.
In 2002 Malaysia was the 2nd largest contributor to intra-ASEAN trade, accounting for 26 per cent trade valued at $42.1 billion. In 2003 it became the largest contributor to intra-ASEAN trade.
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