KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 20): Malaysia's International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Darell Leiking said here today there are no plans to meet India's Railways and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, to discuss the Malaysia-India palm oil dispute.
Leiking said this is because the invitation to the World Economic Forum, which will be held from tomorrow until Friday (Jan 21-24, 2020), is through the Malaysian government. Leiking said he did not contact Indian officials in Davos or receive any invitation for a discussion with them.
"There are no plans to meet anyone in particular but we may bump into them. Along the way, we may bump into each other and a hello always leads to something good," Leiking said at a press conference here today after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of agreement between InvestKL and Chinese business chambers in Malaysia to establish the "China Special Channel".
The China Special Channel is intended to act as a single window for all investment opportunities from China to Malaysia.
The Malaysia-India palm oil dispute has made headlines. Reuters reported that India had last week imposed curbs on Malaysia refined palm oil, which a source in New Delhi with direct knowledge of the matter said could be used to deny or delay imports from Malaysia.
It was reported that Malaysia, a Muslim-majority nation, is the second biggest producer and exporter of palm oil, and Hindu-majority India's restrictions on the refined variety of the commodity imposed last week have been seen as a retaliation for Malaysia Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's criticism of India's new citizenship law, which critics say discriminate against Muslims.
On Tuesday (Jan 14), news reports quoted Dr Mahathir as saying Malaysia needs to find a solution amid concerns of lower purchases of palm oil products by major importer India.
At a press conference at the Bank Rakyat Integrity Forum 2020 here then, Dr Mahathir said: "Well, we are concerned of course, because we sell a lot of palm oil to India. [The concern over lower offtake by India] is something that we have to find a solution [to]."
"But we have to be frank (on India's actions in Kashmir and its new citizenship law). If something goes wrong we have to say it," he said.