Malaysia, springboard to tap ASEAN markets - Ambassador

Anjana SAMARASINGHE

The Sri Lankan business community should take advantage of the opportunities that exist in the region and use Malaysia as a springboard to penetrate the ASEAN market and business linkages, Malaysian High Commissioner Rosli Ismail said at the meeting to facilitate an 18 member business delegation from the Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) yesterday.

The Sri Lanka-Malaysia Business Council SLMBC and the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) has jointly organised a meeting followed by one to one business matchmaking sessions for the visiting ACCCIM delegation at the chamber.

He said the rate of investment between Malaysia and Sri Lanka clearly needs a boost.

There are now very minimal cross- flows between two countries. The business communities of both sides should leverage on Sri Lanka’s strategic location in South Asia as well as Malaysia’s location in the heart of ASEAN.

The existing FTAs between Sri Lanka and India and Pakistan should provide even bigger advantage for Malaysian and Sri Lankan companies to expand their trade relationship.

“It is important to encourage the business community in Sri Lanka to explore the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) industry in which Malaysia can offer. First nine months during this year total trade between two countries was recorded as US$ 313.1 million, with exports from Malaysia valued at US$ 288.8 million and imports is only US$ 24.19 million, he said.

“We are confident that our bilateral relations could be further enhanced and wider scope of economic cooperation could be established, especially between the private sectors of both countries.

“We believe ACCCIM and CCC together with the SLMBC can cooperate and collaborate together to provide a synergy to strengthen the trade and investment between Malaysia and Sri Lanka,” he said.

Head of the Mission Soong Siew Hoong said the main objectives of this mission is to sell Malaysia’s products and services, buy or source local products and services in the areas of agriculture and marine products.

“One of the main objectives is to establish joint venture merger and acquisition with local SMEs and seek opportunity for infrastructure, utilities, property development and other investment projects. Through this visit, we also expect to facilitate advisory and consultancy services on upgrading the quality, productivity, marketability of SMEs and training among both countries, he said.

Immediate Past President of (SLMBC) Dr. Rohitha Silva said the local tourism industry has still not tapped the Malaysian market which has huge market opportunities. Apart from focusing on the traditional market Sri Lanka needs to focus on markets such as Malaysia.

“Malaysian investors are keen on investing in Sri Lanka and we expect to bring more Malaysian trade missions to Sri Lanka during next year to boost trade and investment among two countries”, he said.