By NNN-Bernama,
New Delhi : West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattachargee has asked Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to resume direct flights to the state to help spur trade relations and enhance two-way tourism.
Malaysian High Commissioner to India Tan Seng Sung said Bhattacharjee said investors from the two countries could avail themselves to the vast investment opportunities in West Bengal and Malaysia.
“The chief minister wants Malaysia to resume flights to Kolkata. There are flights from Singapore and Thailand to Kolkata, but the missing link is Malaysia,” Tan told Bernama after meeting Bhattacharjee in Kolkata, the state’s capital, on Tuesday.
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) had operated three times weekly Kuala Lumpur-Kolkata service in 2005 but terminated the service in July this year.
During the 40-minute meeting, Tan said Bhattacharjee also expressed the state’s interest to export its farm products and leather goods to the Malaysian market and how to promote bilateral investments.
“They are keen to export mangoes, potatoes and leather goods to Malaysia. At the same time, they want Malaysians to invest in their leather industry, construction and promote tourism. The chief minister is very impressed about Malaysia,” he said.
Tan said the West Bengal government was building trade ties with China, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, and that it was time Malaysian investors consider the state as a potential investment destination in India.
Home to about 80 million people, West Bengal is an agriculture-dependent state in north-east India and the third largest economy in the country, currently under the Communist Party of India (Marxist) rule.