By V. Sankara Subramaniam
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Bussinesses will suffer and ultimately the people on the ground will end up paying the price of trade wars, says
ASEAN-India Business Council (AIBC) co-chairman, Ramesh Kodammal.
“Trade spats will not benefit any country, be it the ones that started the war, or others that are not directly involved.
“The business community should remain neutral on this issue and instead focus on growing their businesses,” he told Bernama when asked for comments on talks of a cut down in India’s imports of Malaysia’s palm oil.
There have been numerous calls by Indian trade associations for importers to shun palm oil from Malaysia, taking cue from New Delhi’s protest against Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s remarks on the Kashmir conflict, at the United Nations.
Ramesh also advised trade associations in Malaysia not to jump the gun in issuing statements which can aggravate the industry and instead to give room for both governments to address the issue.
He also noted that the Indian government itself had yet to state anything officially on the purchase of palm oil from Malaysia.
“Malaysia and India have shared a cordial relationship for centuries. Let both governments resolve the palm oil issue amicably. We from the trade association feel trade between India and Malaysia should go as normal where problems along the way will get resolved.
“No one should press any button which can accelerate the situation,” he reiterated.
Ramesh said Malaysia should explore ways at balancing trade with India, namely by importing various other goods from the republic.
India, the world’s largest vegetable oil importer, relies on Indonesia and Malaysia for its palm oil supply. Malaysia exported palm oil worth US$1.65 billion (RM6.9 billion) to India in 2018.
–NNN-BERNAMA