India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim committed to boost bilateral trade and explore cooperation in semiconductors, defense, and other strategic sectors, during Modi’s two-day visit to Malaysia, according to an Information Ministry press release.

De-dollarization becomes functional: Bank Negara Malaysia and the Reserve Bank of India will operationalize a framework for INR-MYR invoicing and settlement in a push to promote local-currency trade settlement. For businesses, this means reduced forex conversion costs and a hedge against USD volatility in the USD 19.8 bn trade corridor.

Chip ambitions: Malaysia, which controls roughly 13% of global chip testing and packaging, is now a formal partner in India’s chip-making ambitions. This provides Indian firms like Tata Electronics — which was in talks to acquire Malaysian assets — with a direct line to 40 years of technical expertise to de-risk their domestic fabrication projects.

In the pipeline: The visit is Modi’s first since ties were elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership in August 2024, concluding with 11 agreements.

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