Colombia seeks to expand bilateral trade

KUALA LUMPUR: Colombia is seeking to expand its bilateral trade with countries in the Southeast Asia region, and is looking into Malaysia in furthering cooperation especially in the palm oil industry and its derivatives.
Colombia Foreign Affairs Minister Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar said Malaysia is regarded among its strategic partners as both countries share similarities, especially in terms of climate for palm plantation.
"We would like to see how we can reach the bilateral agenda between both countries, such as in trade and investment," she said.
"We have identified a couple of projects that we think could be pushed a little bit more, especially cooperation in palm industry," she told theSun in an interview held at the Colombian Embassy in UOA Centre here.
Cuellar said her meeting with Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman is meant to maintain and improve bilateral relation between both countries, among other on trade benefits and its stand in global climate change.
"This is the first time we are able to meet and discuss every point of the relationship agenda and how we can work together to improve it. We regard Malaysia as a very important country, mainly due to its similarities with Colombia," she said.
"We are going to go through point by point to show how Colombia is growing and developing, and how we can do more business together.
"We are pretty sure that our bilateral relations will be further enhanced," she said.
Cuellar said another field that could be improved was the presence of Colombian companies in Malaysia and vice versa.
She added Malaysia could seek benefit from the South American country as it is growing the most last year compared to its neighbouring countries, adding that Colombia economic performance is regarded as the best in the region.
She also said the bilateral ties is seeking to be further strengthen in the next five to ten years, adding that Colombia could benefit from Malaysia's achievements in areas such as palm, biofuel and oil industries.
"It is a country that we could learn a lot from. This is what we want, for Malaysia to become partners in many other fields (in the future), and for Malaysia companies to see Colombia as a possibility to invest," she said.
Cuellar was on a three-day official visit to Malaysia from Jan 10 to Jan 12 in an effort to improve ties between both countries.
This was the first visit by Cuellar to Malaysia, and the last time a high level visit from the Latin country was made by Colombia former President Andres Pastrana in March 2000, said a statement from Wisma Putra.
Exports from Malaysia to Colombia was at US$101 million (RM358.65 million) for the first semester of 2014, with the highest goods are electrical machinery at US$37.02 million, non-electric machinery (US$18.55 million) and rubber (US$10.8 million).
"The bilateral trade has seen an increase, but we still have a lot of things to do," she said.