Malaysia plans to step up imports from India: minister

[MUMBAI] Malaysia is planning to step up imports from India in an effort to help bring down New Delhi's trade deficit with Kuala Lumpur, said Teresa Kok, Malaysia's minister of primary industries.

The South-east Asian country is in touch with India's various ministries to identify the commodities that Kuala Lumpur can import, Ms Kok told Reuters late on Thursday.

India, the world's leading importer of vegetable oils, currently buys large quantities of palm oil from Malaysia.

Malaysia's exports to India stood at US$10.8 billion in the 2018/19 fiscal year, and imports from New Delhi totalled US$6.4 billion, according to India's trade ministry data.

REUTERS