Agrobank To Establish Trade Facilitation, Payment Settlement Arrangements With Uzbekistan

By Siti Radziah Hamzah

TASHKENT, June 17 (Bernama) --  Agrobank is targeting to establish trade facilitation and payment settlement arrangements linking Malaysia with Uzbekistan and the wider Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region by year-end.

Agrobank president/chief executive officer, Datuk Tengku Ahmad Badli Shah Raja Hussin, said discussions with Agrobank Uzbekistan focused on facilitating cross-border trade, payment settlements and foreign exchange services between Malaysia and countries in the region, as they seek to expand agricultural and commodity trade.

According to him, Agrobank Malaysia currently has no presence in the CIS region, and the proposed collaboration would mark the bank's first trade facilitation initiative in Central Asia.

“We are trying to start by the end of this year, as there are many opportunities for collaboration,” he said, highlighting areas such as exports of Malaysia’s palm oil as well as imports of sunflower oil and other products from the region.

Speaking to Bernama here today, he said Uzbekistan could serve as a gateway for Malaysian businesses seeking to access the broader CIS market, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.

Tengku Ahmad Badli is part of the Malaysian delegation to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, led by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu, for an official visit from June 11 to 17 at the invitation of Uzbekistan’s Minister of Agriculture, Ibrokhim Abdurakhmonov.

He said Agrobank is also working with the Ministry of Plantation and Commodities (KPK) to identify companies that could benefit from the collaboration, including for the purpose of palm oil exports to Uzbekistan, Russia and the wider CIS market.

“Together with KPK, we have identified several companies to export palm oil to this region and Russia. We can use Uzbekistan as a trade facilitator, particularly through Agrobank Uzbekistan, which can facilitate trade payments for the region,” he said.

He added that discussions with Agrobank Uzbekistan have been positive so far, with both sides welcoming cooperation to strengthen trade ties between Malaysia and Central Asia.

-- BERNAMA