INDEE 2008 TERMED A MAJOR SUCCESS BY ORGANISER

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 (Bernama) -- Fifty-four of the Indian engineering firms from the 169 which participated in the recent Indian Engineering Exhibition (INDEE 2008) here, chalked up business enquiries and on-the-spot orders worth about US$5.1 million from Malaysian companies.

Organised by the Engineering Export Promotion Council India (EEPC), the
exhibition was held at the Putra World Trade Centre from September
25-27.

EEPC chairman, Rakesh Shah said the three-day exhibition was a major
success following the positive feedback received from just the 54 firms at the
event.

"Business enquiries for potential contracts worth almost US$4.95 million
were generated, while on-the-spot orders valued at US$200,000 were recorded by
the 54 firms surveyed," he said in a statement here Wednesday.

Rakesh said that Malaysia was chosen by EEPC India as an important
market for Indian engineering goods because of the fruitful culmination of the
Indo-ASEAN FTA negotiations.

Another reason, he added, was the progress made with respect to the
Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement between India and Malaysia.

"India's ambitious target of achieving US$660 billion merchandise exports
by 2015,indicates that Malaysia is likely to emerge as a key partner for it,
particularly in the engineering sector," he said.

Malaysia is currently the largest importer of Indian engineering goods,
accounting for about 19 percent of ASEAN's total imports valued at
US$3.93 billion.

Between January-June this year, the bilateral trade between India and
Malaysia amounted to US$4.14 billion, up from the US$2.94 billion recorded
during the same period of 2007.
-- BERNAMA