Malaysia Courting Indian Parts Makers

Indian automotive suppliers are being encouraged to invest in Malaysia to help the Southeast Asian country achieve its goal of boosting parts exports to 10 billion ringgit ($3 billion) by 2020.

Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed issued the invitation while meeting with his counterpart, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, during a recent trade mission to India.

The visit included a stop in Chennai, where BMW, Daimler, Ford, Hyundai, Nissan and Renault have established operations. Mustapa says parts makers located there should consider expanding into Malaysia to meet the global automakers’ needs.

“India is becoming a big automotive production hub,” Mustapa tells reporters. “We encourage Indian companies to venture into Malaysia as we aspire to increase exports of auto components.”