India continues to be one of Malaysia’s important sources of FDI, particularly in the manufacturing sector, and remains to be among the top 20 investors in the country. As at September 2018, a total of 135 manufacturing projects with participation from India have been implemented. These investments, valued at RM5.5 billion have created more than 15,000 jobs for the country. Majority of these investments were in the textiles and textile products, chemical and chemical products, paper and printing, non-metallic mineral products, electronics and electrical products and basic metal products.
Notable Indian companies that have made Malaysia their manufacturing base include Reliance Group in textiles and textile products, RP Chemical in chemical and chemical products, Ranbaxy in pharmaceutical products and Tamco Switchgear in the electrical and electronics products industry. Indian firms have also ventured actively into the country’s services sectors. These include ICICI Bank Limited in the finance sector; Wipro, Infosys and Tata Consultancy in IT services; Sky Blue Media in the media advertising sector; and Manipal International in the education and healthcare sector.
“Despite the favourable account of Indian investments in Malaysia, MIDA believes that there is much more room for Indian investors to increase their footprints in the Malaysian economy. We have been intensifying our investment promotion efforts, which include identifying specific projects looking for foreign investors as well as leveraging on strategic partnerships with business associations. Today, we are happy to renew our partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This will strengthen our engagements in providing rewarding exchanges to both our business communities, especially with CII’s 9,000 members including SMEs and MNCs in various areas,” said Dato’ Azman Mahmud, CEO of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA).
The MoU was signed by Mr Arham Abdul Rahman, Deputy CEO of MIDA and Dr. Noushad Forbes, Chairman, International Council of CII at the MITI Tower, in conjunction with the 8th Malaysia- India CEO Forum (MICEOF) today. Previously, MIDA has signed the MoU with CII back in 2000 and since then, both parties has undertaken many collaboration and programmes to strengthen Malaysia-India business opportunities. Among them include the CII Partnership Summit in 2014 and India-Malaysia Business Forum in 2017, as well as various networking and business matching sessions with Indian companies organised by MIDA and CII.
“As this MoU will bring a stronger commitment from both parties, I am confident that this collaboration will further drive quality investments into Malaysia in the years to come. Having CII members with experience in doing business with Malaysia will be beneficial in bringing relevant and interesting insights to other Indian investors. By working closely to achieve the deliverables contained in the MoU, MIDA and CII will indirectly contribute to the strengthening of bilateral relationship between both countries that has been growing over the past 62 years,” added the CEO of MIDA.