THE India-Malaysia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) will come into effect on 1 July 2011. India-Malaysia CECA is India’s fourth bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, after Singapore, South Korea and Japan. The CECA envisages liberalisation of trade in goods, trade in services, investments and other areas of economic cooperation.

Trade between India and Malaysia has reached USD 10 billion in 2010-11, an increase of 26% from the previous year. It is expected that the implementation of this agreement will boost bilateral trade to USD 15 billion by 2015.

Under the services agreement of the CECA, India and Malaysia have provided commercially meaningful commitments in sectors and modes of interest to each other which should result in enhanced services trade. The CECA also facilitates the temporary movement of business people including contractual service suppliers, and independent professionals in commercially meaningful sectors including accounting and auditing, architecture, urban planning, engineering services, medical and dental, nursing and pharmacy, Computer and Related Services (CRS), and Management Consulting Services.

The India-Malaysia CECA also facilitates cross-border investments between the two countries. It aims to promote investments and create a liberal, facilitative, transparent and competitive investment regime. The CECA creates an attractive operating environment for the business communities of both countries to increase bilateral trade and investment.