Trade war going on between major economies of USA and China as well as protectionist measures are a major problem for global free trade, Roswaidin Mohammad Zain, Consul of Malaysia in India said in the city on Wednesday. He called for more bilateral trade between countries, especially India and Malaysia. He hoped that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will give a boost to bilateral trade between India and Malaysia. "It is a big issue. The trade war between USA and China may create an impression that they are benefiting from it. But it will be in the short term. The trade war is not good in the long run. No one benefits from it," said Zain, while interacting with media persons at Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) on Wednesday. He was in Ahmedabad to meet local industries to promote bilateral trade and investment, where he met close to 75 representatives. Import of Malaysian palm oil in India is a major concern for local oil refiners. India has a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Malaysia and the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) and so the imports are at a nominal import duty. Local refiners have urged the central government to increase the import duty. To this, he said that cheaper imports will enable the importers to sell at cheaper and therefore competitive rates. An advocate of free trade, Zain said that bilateral trade between India and Malaysia will bet a bigger boost because of the upcoming Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Rajiv Mehta, president of AMA said that the meeting of local industries with the Malaysian government was to give local industries an opportunity to explore more markets for their products. "We are reaching out to more and more exporters across sectors. They will be able to use AMA as a reference, which searching for buyers abroad," said Mehta. In the near future, AMA will explore business opportunities in SAARC countries. Zain said that India is set to become one of the major economies and therefore Malaysia is trying to engage India, much in advance. According to him, Gujarat is strong in chemicals and pharmaceuticals for which Malaysia can be a lucrative market. The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) scene in Malaysia is dominated by the USA, China and the European Union and India is only a minor player.

Stay updated with all the Ahmedabad Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.