Anwar visits Keralam to explore new areas of cooperation

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to Keralam is expected to open up opportunities for new areas of cooperation between Malaysia and South India in various fields, including wellness tourism, education, trade and investment.

The consul-general of Malaysia to South India, K Saravana Kumar, said Keralam has extensive expertise in Ayurveda, as well as approaches that integrate traditional medicine with modern medicine, or allopathy, which Malaysia could potentially explore to develop its wellness tourism sector.

“In addition, tourism is also an area with significant potential for further strengthening, given the substantial flow of tourists between Malaysia and southern India, particularly to Keralam and Tamil Nadu.

“Tourism ties benefit both countries, but we see significant potential to further increase the number of tourists from South India visiting Malaysia,” he told Malaysian media ahead of the prime minister’s visit here, which begins today.

After attending the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi, Anwar will continue his journey to Keralam and is scheduled to meet the grand mufti of India, Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, at Jamia Markaz here to exchange views on community development, educational advancement and interfaith harmony.

Elaborating, Saravana Kumar said Anwar’s maiden visit to Keralam as prime minister is also expected to inject fresh momentum into Malaysia’s relations with South India, while opening up opportunities to explore areas of cooperation that are of mutual interest.

He said Keralam, which is also renowned for its extraordinary natural beauty and cultural heritage, also has a reputation for sustainable development, clean energy and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which would be among the areas for both sides to exchange expertise and experience.

According to Saravana Kumar, the prime minister’s visit to Calicut, also known as Kozhikode, will also focus on business engagement and meetings with prominent Indian industry players and corporate figures, which are expected to open up new opportunities for cooperation and investment.

He said Anwar is also scheduled to meet Keralam chief minister V D Satheesan and governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar tomorrow to discuss bilateral cooperation between Malaysia and Keralam in key sectors such as trade and investment, tourism, healthcare and education.

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