15/06/2011 (Daily Times) - Malaysia would invest in Pakistan to the tune of $1.5 billion by next year, said Consul General of Malaysia, Khalid Abdur Razzaq on Tuesday.

Addressing a luncheon meeting at Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI), the Malaysian diplomat said that the trade between the two brotherly countries is not at satisfactory and even Malaysian exports for $1.8 billion to Pakistan were only due to palm oil as Pakistan is the second largest importer of Malaysian palm oil.

He said that Pakistan’s exports to Malaysia reached $125 million from $100 million three years ago—but “this increase is meager and needs a quantum jump.” He said that he tried his best to explore Malaysian market for Pakistan’s products especially in textiles, rice, frozen seafood, etc. and now it was up to Pakistan’s exporters to fully exploit the opportunities.

He said that Malaysia is a potential market for Pakistan’s basmati and IRRI rice. He said that visit of KATI’s trade delegation to Malaysia is a good effort but its not enough and there should be exchange of one trade delegation every month. “Bilateral trade between the two nations should be at least $5 billion,” Khalid said.

Patron In-Chief KATI, S M Muneer expressed his gratitude to the services of the outgoing Consul General of Malaysia and said that Khalid not only served his nation but also Pakistan during his tenure in Karachi.

He said that Khalid tried to portray soft image of Pakistan, especially Karachi, abroad and due to his efforts, the share of Pakistan’s trade to Malaysia rose to over $215 million from $100 million.

KATI Chairman, Syed Johar Ali Qandhari in his welcome address paid tributes to the outgoing diplomat for his services for boosting the two-way trade. He said that KATI too had sent a delegation to Malaysia for trade development but this effort is not sufficient—and more exchanges of delegation is needed.

KATI Chairman Standing Committee on Diplomatic Affairs, Masood Naqi while paying tributes to Khalid said that he bridged the gap between entrepreneurs of the two countries. Former Chairman Mian Zahid Husain, Vice Chairman Shahid Javed Qureshi and Salimuz Zaman also spoke on the occasion.