KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 (Bernama) -- Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed will lead a trade and investment mission to India and Sri Lanka from May 1-6 in a continuous effort to promote Malaysia as a profit and regional centre for businesses and investments.

Together with top officials of the Malaysia Investment Development Authority (MIDA), including its Deputy Chief Executive Officer II, Datuk Rajendran Narayanasamy, investment seminars will be held in New Delhi and Colombo.

Participating in the 44-member trade and investment mission are private sector companies comprising mainly small-and-medium-sized enterprises seeking opportunities in the two South Asian nations, which have long-standing business and cultural ties with Malaysia.

MIDA Executive Director Investment Promotion Arham Abd. Rahman said the companies are from the infrastructure, food and beverage, airways, information technology, manufacturing and services sectors.

Other than MIDA, officials from the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) and the Malaysia & India Business Council (MIBC) are also part of the mission.

The programme during the mission includes individual meetings with Indian and Sri Lankan companies, business seminars on investment opportunities in Malaysia, site visits, gatherings with Malaysian professionals and diaspora, as well as networking and business matching events.

The two seminars on business opportunities in Malaysia will be held in New Delhi on May 2 and in Colombo on May 5.

In 2015, India was Malaysia's 10th biggest trading partner with bilateral trade amounting to US$12 billion accounting for 3.2 per cent of Malaysia's total external trade.

Malaysia's total exports to India was US$8.12 billion in 2015 while imports amounted to US$3.90 billion.

Major products exported to India were palm oil and palm-based products (25.8 per cent of total exports), electrical and electronic products (16.8 per cent), crude petroleum (16.1 per cent), chemical and chemical products (9.7 per cent) and manufactures of metal (9.5 per cent).

Malaysia's trade with Sri Lanka amounted to US$570 million last year with exports at US$480 million and imports, US$90 million.

Major products exported to Sri Lanka were palm oil & palm-based products (18 per cent of total exports to the country), chemicals & chemical products (14.7 per cent), petroleum products (10.6 per cent), electrical& electronic products (9.4 per cent) and machinery, appliances & parts (8.6 per cent).

In terms of investment, Indian companies continue to play an important role in Malaysia's business environment, with companies setting up manufacturing and services activities in the country.

In 2015, a total of 130 manufacturing projects with Indian interest were implemented with realised investments of RM4.45 billion and have created 15,064 jobs.

A majority of Indian businesses are in the manufacturing sector such as paper, printing & amp; publishing, textiles & textile products, petroleum products (inc. petrochemical) and non-metallic mineral products, as well as, services; ICT services, education, and healthcare.

-- BERNAMA