KARACHI: Consul General of Malaysia, Mohammad Khalid Abdul Razak, has underscored the need to establish a joint platform for business communities of Pakistan and Malaysia in order to enhance exchange of information and expertise between the countries, which would help expand two-way trade to a greater extent.

Speaking at a meeting of Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) , he said that Malaysia and Pakistan both offer best opportunities for investment and trade in a number of areas. These areas need to be tapped. Furthermore, he said that Malaysia has a lot of business and economic interest in Pakistan.

He invited a trade and industrial delegation comprising KATI's members to visit Malaysia and explore trade opportunities in Malaysia. He urged Pakistani businessmen to increase the export of Halal Food products in view of their increasing demand in Malaysia and across the world.

Mohammad Khalid Abdul Razak informed that the consulate would hold a workshop on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed between the two countries to apprise business community about benefits of the agreement.

He said that FTA has been signed to get maximum benefits of the preferential tariff and businessmen from both sides should exploit trade opportunities to the maximum level. He said that FTA was not signed only to import palm oil from Malaysia but there are massive trade opportunities in Malaysia and its is advisable to explore them. He said that Malaysia is importing textile and food products from Pakistan, while Pakistan is one of the biggest importers of palm oil from Malaysia.

He said that every year a very large number of tourists visit Malaysia, like last year 22 million tourists visited Malaysia, which generated around 2.40 billion dollars foreign exchange. Referring to process of issuance of Malaysian visa, he said that visa can be issued immediately on the receipt of complete documents.

Earlier, the Chairman, KATI's Committee on Diplomatic Affairs, Masood Naqi said that bilateral relations between the two countries are very strong as both the nations have strong religious and cultural affinities since their inception. He endorsed the proposal to form an affective platform of stakeholders from both the countries for better interaction.

The Patron In-chief, KATI, S M Muneer urged the need of frequent exchange of trade delegations and improve the bilateral trade between the two countries having strong relations with each other. The Chairman, KATI, Razzak Hashim Paracha suggested establishing a strong system of exchange of trade expertise between the two countries.

He said that frequent exchange of information is necessary and the exchange of delegations from both private and public sectors would multiple trade volume between the two countries. He said that Pakistan's share in Malaysia's imports is very nominal and it is the need of the hour to bridge the massive trade gap between the two countries.