Malaysian minister vows to promote bilateral trade

KARACHI: Malaysian Minister for Primary Industries Teresa Kok Suh Sim has assured the Pakistani business community, of all possible cooperation for promotion of bilateral trade and investment, a statement said.

The minister pledged that she would also lobby with other Ministries of Malaysia to get the trade related issues resolved which were raised by Pakistani businesspersons. She was speaking with officials of Pakistan-Malaysia Business Council (PMBC) of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) at a local hotel.

Malaysian Consul General Khairul Nazran Rehman and the commercial counsellor were also present on the occasion, while the PMBC team was led by its Chairman Bashir Janmohammed.

She supported the demand made by Pakistani business community for direct flights of Malaysian Airline to Karachi, as it would facilitate the movement of the two business communities.

PMBC Chairman Bashir Janmohammed and his team called for earliest review of the free trade agreement between Pakistan and Malaysia to make it practical and equally beneficial for both the countries.

“At present, the trade balance is in favour of Malaysia, and the volume of bilateral trade could be multiplied within next few years if certain adjustments are made in the FTA,” he said. Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted more trade with Malaysia and the government was also working on revision of the FTA.

Janmohammed said if Malaysia facilitated and relaxed the policy for import of Pakistani rice, the volume could be increased to at least half a million tons from the present 0.1 million tons a year.

He said PMBC would send a big business delegation to explore the Malaysian market for Pakistani products, especially rice.

Also, he invited Malaysian business delegations to visit Pakistan to see trade and investment opportunities.

Perviaz Khan from Dalda Foods proposed working on joint ventures for growing palm trees on the coastal line of Pakistan as Malaysia had expertise in this field.

Malaysian Minister for Industries also held a meeting with members of Pakistan-Malaysia Friendship Association, headed by Shahid Jawed Qureshi.