Mah Siew Kiong, Malaysia’s Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, said, in view of Iran’s 82-million population, a free trade accord would mark an excellent opportunity for sales of Malaysian products like palm oil and rubber in addition to providing a more competitive atmosphere in the Iranian market.
The official, who was addressing a press conference on Saturday morning, said was going to visit Tehran before the end of January, 2017 in a bid to pave the path for transference of more Malaysian products to Iran.
He introduced Iran as the second largest Asian country saying “bilateral free trade agreement with Iran will bring about numerous benefits.”
Siew Kiong underlined that his country had made 340 million dollars of exports to Iran estimating that the figure will rise to 364 million dollars.
Earlier last week, Mustapa Mohamed, Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry, has announced his countries willingness to launch free trade talks with Iran.
The volume of Tehran-Kuala Lumpur bilateral trade turnover reached about 700 million dollars in the year 2015.
Following his meeting with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani in August, Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak said his country’s plantation industries and commodities will make a visit to Iran as well as that a regional bureau of Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) will be opened in Tehran in the first quarter of the coming year.
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