Her Majesty attending the children orchestra
Vast Potential For Malaysia-Chile Business
SANTIAGO (Chile), April 24 (Bernama) -- The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Nur Zahirah's state visit which concluded here Wednesday, opens a new chapter in bilateral relations between Malaysia and Chile, especially in trade.
Looking at the warm response received by the royal couple during their visit here, there is no doubt the bilateral relations between the two countries will flourish.
Malaysian Ambassador to Chile Abdullah Faiz Mohd Zain said that last year, the bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to USD336 million, with Malaysia's export to Chile registered at USD186.8 million while import from Chile was at USD148.7 million.
He said Chile and Malaysia shared a lot in common, such as both being democratic countries, look forward to the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and send peacekeepers under the United Nations' banner in the common quest for peace.
He said, Chile was an open market just waiting for Malaysian investors to venture into, with vast potential in certain areas such as manufacturing, furniture, education and finance.
"I would say there could be two problems in trading with the Chilean, that is, language and distance (both countries are separated by thousands of miles), but this issue should not be a barrier. The potential is vast, the Malaysian businessman just needs to brace himself to grab the chance," he told Malaysian journalists at his residence here today.
Abdullah Faiz, who has been here since February 2006, said in general, Chileans had very little knowledge of Malaysia, other than the story of Sandokan, a famous novel written by Italian author Emilio Salgari in 1895 and the iconic twin towers of Petronas.
However, with several initiatives such as the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (introduced in Chile in 1997), endless efforts by the embassy to promote Malaysia, and the recent state visit of the royal couple, more and more news about Malaysia find its way into the local media.
Abdullah said China, Middle East, America and Europe were Chile's traditional partners in trade, but the Chilean now should look into other markets with great potential that can be explored.
Existing Malaysian investments in Chile are confined to real estate development and the seafood industry. Recently, though, a Malaysian company, MyCopter Aviation Sdn Bhd, secured a contract to refurbish three Chilean Navy Dauphine helicopters.
A Malaysian-based WiMax operator, Packet One, in a joint venture with Inverca Telecom, has been awarded a 56 billion-peso (USD93 million) deal to provide wireless broadband in rural Chile recently.
The ambassador said the project would involve providing connectivity to 1,470 rural communities comprising more than 850,000 household, three million individuals and 800 schools.
Meanwhile, Abdullah Faiz said among the agreements signed by Malaysia and Chile were the Trade Agreement in June 1992, Investment Guarantee Agreement in December 1992 and Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement (DTA), while the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that was still under negotiation, had entered into its fifth meeting in Kuala Lumpur recently.
He said Chilean President Michelle Bachelet was scheduled to attend the APEC meeting in Singapore by the end of the year, and her attendance in the region might have an impact to speed up the FTA, the first to be signed by Malaysia and a Latin country.
Bachelet, in her speech during an audience with Tuanku Mizan and Tuanku Nur Zahirah recently, said Chile would always remember Malaysia's invaluable support when it joined Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in the course of the Bogor Summit in 1994.
-- BERNAMA
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