Keen to increase trade, tourism, science and technology exchange with the state of Malaysia: Dato' Muzaffar Shah Mustafa

The relationship between Malaysia and India has been close and cooperative and efforts are underway to increase the trade between the two countries from $20 billion to $25 billion in the next three years. Malaysia's newly appointed High Commissioner to India Dato' Muzaffar Shah Mustafa asserted that Malaysia will increase cooperation with India in the fields of tourism, science and technology, sports and palm plantation and in this regard Maharashtra will be the most important state for Malaysia.

Muzaffar Shah Mustafa was speaking when he met Governor Ramesh Bais at Raj Bhavan Mumbai on Thursday (30th) along with the Malaysian delegation on investment, trade and tourism.

Mustafa said that Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is likely to visit India soon and he is also likely to visit Mumbai during his visit.  He said that Malaysia has 50 years of experience in semiconductor manufacturing and through the Malaysia-India Digital Cooperation Council, Malaysia is cooperating with India in the field of digital economy and semiconductor manufacturing.

He expressed the hope that Malaysia will provide electricity to Indians upon arrival for the next year and India should also provide electricity to the citizens coming from Malaysia upon arrival. He said that 7 lakh tourists came to Malaysia from India last year and more tourists are expected to come this year. He said that in this regard, Malaysian tourism offices have been opened in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. He said that Malaysia is attracting Indian tourists in terms of wedding destination, golf.

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Clearing misunderstandings about palm oil

Malaysia is exporting 30 lakh tonnes of palm oil to India. High Commissioner Mustafa said Malaysia is trying to dispel the misconceptions people have about palm oil even though it is an edible oil and convince them that palm oil is good for health. He said that palm oil can meet the population's need for edible oil as the world's population continues to grow. He said that palm plantation is also beneficial for farmers as one hectare of area produces 8 tons of palm oil for thirty years.

India has announced a new foreign trade policy and the Governor expressed the hope that Malaysia will increase cooperation with India in the fields of digital economy, renewable energy, semiconductor manufacturing and startups in addition to traditional sectors. The governor said that India has emerged as the world's drug manufacturing hub and the two countries should also increase cooperation in the fields of generic drug manufacturing, vaccine development and mobility of health workers.

The meeting was attended by the Consul of Malaysia in Mumbai, Ahmad Zuwairi Yusof and representatives of the Offices of Investment, Tourism and Trade in India.