TEHRAN – “The worth of trade between Iran and Malaysia was $532 million in 2015 and with the removal of sanctions against Iran we are trying to increase this number to $1 billion”, according to Dato' Dzulkifli Mahmud, the CEO of Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation known as MATRADE.

“Kuala Lumpur is eager to increase trade with Tehran in the shortest time,” IRNA quoted Mahmud as saying on the sidelines of an Iran-Malaysia trade forum in Tehran on Tuesday.

“We predict a 20 to 30 percent rise in the level of trade between the two countries for the present year,” he noted.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Mahmud said that Malaysian companies are keen to enter the Iranian market. “We are also eager to use Iran as a hub for exporting Malaysian goods and products to the neighboring countries in the region,” he added.

Touching upon Malaysia’s membership in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the official stated, “Malaysia could be the gateway for Iran’s access to this influential organization’s market”.

He also mentioned his country’s interest in expanding ties with Iran in the fields of tourism, aviation, and shipping and noted, “We are probing the potentials to invest in the field of tourism and we also like to expand the relationship between the two countries’ manufacturers in the fields of aviation and shipping”.

In the end, Mahmud emphasized, “Development of economic relations between Iran and Malaysia will face serious challenges but considering the long and positive history of relations between the two countries, we will certainly overcome such challenges”.

EF/MA