Invest in India, PM Modi tells Malaysia’s Najib Razak

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today invited Malaysian companies to come to India, saying there are a "lot of opportunities" for them since he has placed huge importance to his ambitious 'Make in India' campaign.

Modi'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 10-day, three-nation tour of Myanmar, Australia and Fiji.

"I am giving lot of emphasis to Make in India and want to invite Malaysian companies to come to India. There are a lot of opportunities," Modi tweeted shortly after the meeting.

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

Modi told Najib that Malaysia and India have worked together in the past and that the two countries can take this much further under his leadership.

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

Modi and Najib 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 at $12.3 billion in the January-November 2013 period against Malaysia-China trade of $95 billion, Indian officials said there is excellent scope to augment bilateral trade.