By R. Ravichandran
KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 (NNN-Bernama) — Both Malaysian and Croatian business communities have been urged to increase trade, investments and cooperation as there is a huge potential in the field of tourism, Information Technolog (IT), innovation, agriculture and food processing, electrical and electronics sector and in the defence industry.
In making the call, Croatia’s Ambassador to Malaysia Dr Ivan Velimir Starčević said that they should not be deterred by the distance between the two countries or by some political, economic or other differences.
“Their point of departure should instead be that the two countries offer a lot in mutual cooperation. The Covid pandemic of course had a profoundly negative impact on economic cooperation but things are now slowly changing,” he told Bernama in an interview.
The interview was in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Zagreb-Kuala Lumpur diplomatic ties. Both countries established diplomatic ties on May 4, 1992.
The ambassador also has some interesting success stories on both sides to tell.
“There are already examples of success to this end. A few days ago a young Croatian entrepreneur below thirty visited us at the embassy. He came from Croatia a few years ago and settled in Kuala Lumpur, and is today a successful entrepreneur in the field of medical material. Some time ago two young Malaysians, again aged below thirty, visited us before their trip to Croatia where they were able to find partners and open teaching courses for commercial aviation pilots. We have to courageously follow such examples,” he stressed.
On areas of bilateral relations and cooperation that needs revival, he pointed out Information Technology (IT), explaining that Croatia was known worldwide as a country with a great number of IT experts and Malaysia is also known for the same.
“It has to be stressed here that one of the two Croatian unicorns, is the IT company Infobip and this company has its regional office for Southeast Asia here in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. We should do more to connect our companies in this field,” he further said.
Speaking about tourism, Starčević said that Croatia is a small state in the global context with many beautiful attractions and on the other hand Malaysia is also a beautiful country and well known for its tourist attractions.
He said that there was a lot of interest in Malaysia for travel (tourism) to Croatia and the same interest is growing in Croatia for travel to Malaysia.
“We have to make this interest materialise and streamline it. My vision is to one day see Malaysia similar to South Korea, from which every year hundreds of thousands of tourists go to visit Croatia,” Starčević said.
The ambassador pointed out that agriculture and food processing was one more field where the two countries could export products to each other which are optimal due to their particular climatic environment.
One new area which caught Starčević’s attention which both countries could explore further is innovation where he said both sides have to do more to open room for cooperation.
In this regard, the ambassador explained that for over a decade Croatian innovators have with great success exhibited their innovations at the annual Malaysia Technology Expo (MTE) international exhibition in Kuala Lumpur having taken home numerous gold medals and various awards.
He said Malaysian innovators have equally participated at the exhibition of innovations in Zagreb.
Outlining the defence industry as another area with great potential, Starčević said Croatia was one of the well-known global producers of various defence products, be it of a more defensive style like helmets and bullet-proof vests and all the way down to the offensive products.
“On the other hand, due to its position in the South China Sea, its long coastline and many islands etc Malaysia is in a position to procure sophisticated systems in this field including ships and boats to protect its land and sea. So we should simply do more to connect the producers and the buyers in this field. It is of course on business people from both sides to fully explore and take advantage of the full spectrum of cooperation,” he said.
“Today we live in an extremely complex and diverse world. There are changes all around us. Global value chains and supply chains will have to be reinvigorated after the Covid pandemic. There is a clear potential, let’s take advantage of it and let’s do more in bilateral economic relations,” he said while adding that in this endeavour, the business community can always count on full assistance from the Croatian embassy in Malaysia.
— NNN-BERNAMA
