KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 — Malaysia is always ready to meet the increasing demand for palm oil in India through the cooperation with major importing companies such as Emami Agrotech Ltd.

Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said Emami Agrotech is one of the largest palm oil importers in India, and during his recent meeting with its executive director Manush Goenka in India, the potential for Emami to increase its palm oil imports from Malaysia was discussed.

The company is a major player in the Indian edible oil and food products sector.

“India is the largest importer of edible oil worldwide and 59 per cent of its imports consist of palm oil,” he said in a posting on the X platform today.

Yesterday Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim accompanied by Tengku Zafrul held a meeting with representatives from three major Indian companies namely Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HCL Technologies (HCLTech) and Emami Agrotech in New Delhi.

HCLTech, one of the largest IT and technology companies in India, has been established in Malaysia for the past 26 years. It plans to expand operations with a focus on areas such as digital engineering, including data and AI. The expanded operations are expected to create more than 1500 highly skilled jobs for Malaysians.

Meanwhile, in a separate posting on the X platform, Tengku Zafrul said that from 1,600 employees, TCS will double its number of employees.

“TCS has already opened its headquarters for Asean operations in Malaysia, and now it wants to expand its operations here,” he said. He added that among the planned projects is the opening of an AI Centre of Excellence and a Cyber ??Security Centre.

From 2021 to March 2024, the total number of approved digital investments amounted to nearly RM162 billion, and generated nearly 3,700 job opportunities.

“The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry together with related ministries will always strive to facilitate quality investment in the digital economy, in line with the focus of the New Industrial Master Plan to position Malaysia as a regional generative AI hub,” he said.

In a related development, Anwar said the visit to India was successful as Malaysia achieved potential trade of RM8 billion in the palm oil and palm oil-based products sector, chemicals and chemical products, oil and gas and aircraft spare parts. — Bernama