PM Narendra Modi invites Malaysian firms to 'Make in India'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday invited Malaysian companies to come to India in a big way, saying there were a "lot of opportunities" for them since he was giving high importance to the ambitious 'Make in India' campaign.

The Prime Minister's call came during a bilateral meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak at the Myanmar International Convention Centre on the sidelines of the 12th ASEAN-India summit on the second day of his ten-day tour of Myanmar, Australia and Fiji.

"I am giving lot of emphasis to makeinindia & want to invite Malaysian companies to come to India. There are lot of opportunities," Modi tweeted shortly after his meeting.

The country has traditionally relied on investments from Japan, South Korea, Europe and the US.

The prime minister told Najib that the two countries have worked together in the past and that the goverment and Malaysia could take it much further under his leadership.

Noting that Malaysia has worked considerably on affordable housing, Modi said Malaysian companies can work in this area since his government wants every Indian to have a home by 2022.

The two premiers also invited each other to visit their countries.

"Reformers meet, share thoughts on government and economic reforms," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin tweeted, referring to the Modi-Najib meeting.

With the total trade between the two countries being US $12.3 billion in January to November 2013 period, against Malaysia-China trade of US $95 billion, government officials said there was an excellent scope to augment the bilateral trade.