Visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohammad Najib Tun Abdul Razak on Wednesday put 2010 end as the deadline for concluding the Malaysia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) and invited Indian companies to invest in biosciences, ICT and education.
Addressing captains of trade and industry here at a meeting organised jointly by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, Mr. Razak said the during his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh he would stress on the need to conclude the Malaysia-India CECA by this year end and invite him (Dr. Singh) to Malaysia to the sign the bilateral agreement. The Malaysian Prime Minister said CECA would spur additional bilateral trade and investment, as well as create jobs, investment and economic opportunities for the people of the two countries. “We will do all that is possible on our part to fast-track negotiations for this purpose,” Mr. Razak said.
The Malaysian Prime Minister said that for ties to be binding and meaningful, it was imperative to have the strongest people-to-people relationship. In this context, he proposed that steps would be taken to establish a bilateral CEO Forum of senior business leaders from both countries who can meet and exchange views on subjects of common interest. Such a forum, he said, would help strengthen the trust and confidence among participants and identify new areas of cooperation between the two countries. Mr. Razak said that to deepen the people-to-people relationship, Malaysia intended to improve its visa regime to facilitate travel of business persons and tourist to his country. He also called for improving connectivity through additional flights to either country and to elsewhere around the world.
