HC Malaysia underscores need for enhancing bilateral trade to $10bn

FAISALABAD: Malaysia is trying its optimum best to enhance bilateral trade with Pakistan from 1.8 to $10bn as according to the World Bank, Pakistan would be included among the top ten economies of the world by 2050, said Mohammad Azhar Bin Mazlan High Commissioner of Malaysia in Pakistan.

Addressing the business community in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI), he expressed satisfaction over the productive and fruitful bilateral and economic relations between the two countries and said that business communities of Malaysia and Pakistan must collaborate to further enhance the volume of bilateral trade.

He said that more than 50,000 Pakistanis are working in Malaysia while the volume of bilateral trade is only $1.8bn. He said that trade wise of India is number one, Bangladesh is number two while and Pakistan stands third. He said that Malaysia is exporting palm oil, chemicals and electrical items to Pakistan while it is importing some chemicals, fresh fruits and vegetables from Pakistan in addition to the textile products.

He said that Pakistan has recently organized a mango festival in Kuala Lumpur which would open a new market for this exotic Pakistani fruit delicacy. He said that the Muslim countries, Pakistan and Malaysia must focus on the $3trillion international halal market.

He said that Pakistan could export halal products to Middle East and Far East countries. He said that Malaysia is also working proactively on halal products and it has developed halal ice-cream and halal chocolate which are not only popular in Muslim but also in non-Muslim countries.

He said that Malaysia is a member of the ASEAN bloc which has a collective GDP of 2.9trillion with a population of 647million. He said that his country is situated in the centre of this bloc and Pakistan could also re-export its surplus to the other ASEAN countries through Malaysia.

He said that the population of Kuala Lumpur is only 3million which is less than Faisalabad. He said that Malaysia is a net importer of food products. “We are importing chicken, egg and beef from Brazil, Australia and New Zealand”, he said and added that very recently a Pakistani company has started exporting beef to Malaysia.

He said that Pakistan could export fruits and vegetables in addition to the textile products to Malaysia. He said that after value addition the Pakistani products could also be re-exported to the other countries.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023