NEW DELHI: A total of seven memorandums of understanding (MoU) will be signed between Malaysia and India involving cooperation in digital, tourism, health, pharmaceuticals, ayurvedic medicine and foreign workers.
Malaysian High Commissioner to India, Datuk Muzafar Shah Mustafa, in a press conference in New Delhi recently, said among the areas that Malaysia can benefit from is information technology (IT) and digital in addition to technical expertise.
He said, among the interesting developments is the intention of the Indian Institute of Technology to open a technology institute in Malaysia, which is now already at the discussion stage between the two countries.
"Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, will witness the MoU signing ceremony involving both countries.
"The visit of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim from Aug 19 to 21 is the first visit since he led the government in 2022 and is an important visit as it is the main starting point for strengthening bilateral relations.
"If we look at Malaysia-India relations, it covers various aspects in terms of politics and the importance of economic, trade, social and cultural relations.
"When there is a meeting between the two Prime Ministers, many matters related to bilateral relations will be discussed in the hope of exploring new areas between the two countries," he said.
Joining Anwar is the Human Resources Minister Steven Sim; Tourism, Culture and Arts Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing; Foreign Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, Digital Minister Gobind Singh and Investment, Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
Also in the entourage are MIC president Tan Sri S.Vigneswaran; Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit chairman P.Prabakaran and Public Services Department director-general Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz.
The prime minister will also hold a meeting with representatives of Indian companies in a round table meeting in addition to holding a meeting with companies that want to expand their operations in Malaysia.
India is seen as a leader in the field of renewable energy and electric vehicles (EV), which Malaysia wants to take advantage of while India is interested in cooperation in the semiconductor industry with Malaysia.
Muzaffar said India-Malaysia relations began in 1957 and India was among the first six countries to establish a representative office in Malaysia.
He explained that the relationship of over 65 years is going very well and is expected to progress, with many new areas that can be explored.
"India is the 12th largest trading partner and we agree that Malaysia and India should continue to improve trade relations.
"We are close to reaching a trade value of US$20 billion (RM88 billion) in 2023, with the target of reaching a trade value of US$25 billion (RM110 billion) in 2026, after a slight decrease in 2023 and this year, there is a positive development where the trade value of half a year is already over US$9 billion.
"Malaysia-India's close historical, socio-cultural relationship also stimulates the tourism sector because India is the third most important tourism market after Asean, and China, with tourist arrivals in 2023 amounting to 700,000 people with a target of over a million tourists this year," he said.
Anwar will also deliver a speech themed 'Towards a Rising Global South: Leveraging on Malaysia-India Ties' at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) and participate in a ceremony with Malaysians in Delhi, at the grounds of the Malaysian High Commission.