'Malaysia's FDI into India nearly USD 300 million'

Malaysia's foreign direct investment (FDI) into India totalled USD 298.8 million from April 2000 to June last year, Prime Minister Najib Razak told business leaders attending the SME Innovation Showcase (Smidex) 2012.

Razak said that if investments made through third country routes were taken into account, Malaysia's cumulative investment in India exceeded USD 6 billion.

"Indian investment in Malaysia is small in relative terms but has doubled from the previous year and is now valued at 98 million ringgit," he said.

"There are 77 Indian companies, including Indian joint ventures, operating in Malaysia. Regionally, the conclusion of the Asean-India Free Trade Area (AIFTA) has also helped increase trade and investment between Asean countries and India," he added.

Najib said the AIFTA Trade in Goods Agreement(TIG), which came into effect on Jan 1, 2010, will likely facilitate the "creation of an open market in a region with a total combined population of approximately 1.8 billion".

He named several areas of growth to assist the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including training and the upgrading of skills in financial support services, business matching services, marketing support services and creative innovation assimilation.

International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said business matching at Smidex had reached 120 million ringgit (37.5 million USD) since Wednesday compared to 119 million ringgit for the whole of last year.