In its preparations to lead ASEAN in 2025, Malaysia continues to strengthen its bilateral relations with regional countries, including India, through various economic and tourism initiatives in the face of global challenges.

The Deputy Executive Director of Asia-Europe Institute (AEI) Universiti Malaya, Associate Professor Dr Roy Anthony Rogers, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s recent visit to India proved Malaysia’s commitment to strengthening the economic cooperation between the two countries.

Strong Malaysia-India relations, including through cooperation in the military sector and worker visas, also play an important role, he said.

“When Malaysia assumes the ASEAN chair, we hope that the existing ASEAN-India cooperation such as the ASEAN-India Partnership Peace, Progress and Shared Prosperity will be strengthened to ensure better economic and investment relations among ASEAN-member countries and India,” he said on Bernama TV’s Ruang Bicara programme on Friday night.

On the implementation of unlimited visas for Indian workers in Malaysia, which was the main issue discussed during Anwar’s visit, Roy described the initiative as a proactive step to overcoming the problem of labour shortage in Malaysia.

“This visa, is not only for farm workers but also for skilled workers from India, including in the fields of IT (information technology) and medicine. This is important to ensure continued productivity and innovation in various sectors in Malaysia.”

Another guest on the programme, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Development lecturer Dr Wan Rohila Ganti Wan Abdul Ghapar touched on the importance of Malaysia empowering the tourism industry, by focusing on tourists from India.

In the semiconductor industry, she said Malaysia is still in the exploration phase compared to India, which is already advanced in the field.

“We can learn a lot from India, especially in terms of innovation and best practices in the semiconductor industry.

“The exchange of knowledge and cooperation in this sector needs to be emphasised.”

On the issue of investment, she said Malaysia has successfully attracted investors from India with a trade potential of RM8 billion and an investment commitment of RM4.5 billion.

“The next step is to ensure that this potential is fully realised to benefit the national economy.”

Anwar arrived in New Delhi on Aug 19 to begin a three-day official visit to strengthen Malaysia-India relations that have been established for 67 years, as well as to create an agenda for multi-sector cooperation in the future.

This visit also witnessed the signing of eight memoranda of understanding (MoUs) between the governments of Malaysia and India, as well as seven B2B (Business to Business) MoUs.

Anwar also extended an invitation to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu to visit Malaysia to increase the momentum of bilateral relations between Malaysia and India.