The visiting Malaysian
Minister for Primary Industries, Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, called on
Shri Arun Jaitley, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Law
& Justice, here today and discussed matters of bilateral
trade interest. The Malaysian Minister urged reduced levels
of duties on crude and refined palm oil and making it at par
with soyabean oil. In this context, he informed that in view
of the lower production this year and rising demand in India
and China, the two main consumers of Malaysian palm oil, prices
would continue to rise in the near future and therefore, sought
India’s help through reduced duties. Shri Jaitley pointed out
that since the matter concerned the Ministries of Agriculture,
Consumer Affairs and Finance, the request would be duly conveyed
to them. Responding to Dr. Yaik’s proposal for joint ventures
in edible oil refining, Shri Jaitley suggested that such units
could be set up in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in India
which would provide the advantage of duty-free import of crude
palm oil for export of refined palm oil. India has requested
Malaysia to expedite approval of abattoirs to facilitate meat
exports from India and also indicated ONGC’s interest for participation
in the greater Nile Oil Project in Sudan. Shri Dipak Chatterjee,
Commerce Secretary and Shri Vinay Bansal, Additional Secretary,
Ministry of Commerce & Industry were present at the meeting.
Taking note of
the current trends in bilateral trade, both sides agreed to
promote counter-trade to ensure balanced growth. Shri Jaitley
reiterating the scope for Indian projects including the IRCON
project in Malaysia which would help in addressing the balance
of trade which has been consistently in favour of Malaysia.
Bilateral trade was US $ 1904.37 million in 2001-02. Of this
US $ 1133.44 million constituted India’s imports from Malaysia
and US $ 770.93 million India’s exports to Malaysia.
