TEHRAN (Iran News) – Charge D’Affaires of Embassy of Malaysia in Iran Mohd Nizam Halimi met economic activists of Central Province of Iran in Arak and during the meeting Head of Arak Chamber of Commerce expressed his discontent over the current trade volume between Iran and Malaysia.
Halimi was in Arak for a two-day visit and meeting with economic activists of the province. On Wednesday and during a joint meeting with the economic activists of Central Province, Head of Arak Chamber of Commerce Asghar Beiki said Malaysia is in good condition for accepting Iranian products and the country’s geography has caused it to considerable shortage of milk, meat and livestock products and for this reason Malaysia imports almost 90 percent of its needs in the mentioned fields but the country is very capable in producing animal feed.
He went on to say that these factors can pave the ground for strengthening ties between Iran and Malaysia and both countries through a bilateral and win-win agreement can take advantage of this opportunity. He noted that Malaysia with producing some 20m tons of palm oil per year is strong in this filed which can meet Iran’s demands.
Beiki then pointed to the trade volume of Iran and Malaysia last year and said last year Iran exported over $81m of goods to Malaysia and said considering this Muslim’s 32m population, the amount of Iran’s exports to Malaysia is not defendable. He added that Central Province’s share of Iran’s exports to Malaysia in the past year was around $366,000, noting that in return Iran’s imports from Malaysia stood at $287.5m last year.
Beiki then pointed to the amount of trade volume of the two countries in the first five months of the current year and said that Iran has exported some $17.6b of goods while its share of exports to Malaysia was just $33.6m and in the same period country’s imports from Malaysia was $175m.
He then called for holding of such meetings and termed it a way for expanding trade ties with countries. He reiterated if there is a strong determination among producers and exporters of the province, undoubtedly these talks can lead to economic development of the province.
Then Malaysian diplomat Halimi, for his part, explained his goal for visiting the province and said his aim of visiting the capital of industry in Iran was to study ways for restoring trade and increasing the commercial exchanges between the two countries. He added that these relations can be in different fields like exchange of knowledge, knowhow, student, technology and advertisement.
He noted unfortunately due to the sanctions in the past years and problem in financial exchanges as well as the COVID pandemic as two negative and deterrent factors, the trade between Iran and Malaysia has declined considerably.
Halimi reiterated that Malaysia’s determination is focused on boosting trade with Iran and undoubtedly Iranian decision-makers also seek it.
He then pointed to the export capacities of Malaysia and said palm oil is the most important export product of Malaysia as it accounts for 70 percent of its total exports, and rubber, chemical industries and machineries are the other major exports of his country. He then stated sea foods, agro products, processed products, fuel and oil industries are the major imports of his country from Iran.
Halimi expressed his country’s interest for marketing its products in Iran and said of course there are some Iranian products that Malaysia welcomes their purchases. He then highlighted major achievements in his two-day visit to Arak and said the Central Province is full of opportunity, potential and capacity due to the existence of big production units in the province and it can have trade ties with any city and country in the world.
On the investment opportunity in Malaysia, he said last year 11 projects worth of $43m were invested by Iranians in Malaysia and 26 production units in the field of electronics were operationalized by the Iranians. Halimi said that the ground is ready for Iranians to invest in different fields like chemical industries, medical products, hotel and tourism, foodstuff and halal foodstuff.
He termed the Middle East as an important market that Malaysia seeks trade relation with it and Iran’s share for these special ties are upgradable. He called his visit to Arak a beginning point for identifying the capabilities of this industry.
