July 06, Colombo: A Malaysian business delegation visiting Sri Lanka to explore possibilities of trade and investment opportunity in the island has shown interest in investing in several spheres, the Economic Development Ministry said Friday.

The delegation led by Dato Syed Ali Alattas, the President of the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia met the Minister of Economic Development on Thursday at the Ministry for discussions on trade and investment opportunities.

Malaysian delegation has expressed interest to invest and have joint ventures on property development, construction industry, agro based industry, fisheries, freight forwarding from Hambantota and Colombo ports, E commerce, IT service and hospital supplies, the Ministry said in a statement.

During the meeting, Minister Rajapaksa has pointed out that economic cooperation between the two countries is at a high level and many Malaysian investors in Sri Lanka have been very successful. The Minister told the Malaysian delegation that many Tourism Zones and the telecommunication services were successfully operating within the island.

There are big potential for hotels, skill development, shopping malls and recreational facilities in relation to the tourism sector he has pointed out.

The head of the Malaysian delegation has said that they will form the Malaysia - Sri Lanka business council in Malaysia similar to its counterpart in Sri Lanka and inquired about the possibilities of setting up assembly lines for various Malaysian products in Sri Lanka.

Labor shortage in Malaysia encourages many industries to set up their plants in countries like Sri Lanka Alattas he has said.

. In 2011, total trade between Sri Lanka and Malaysia stood at US$ 814 million. Malaysia's exports to Sri Lanka in 2011 grew 38 percent over the previous year to US$ 644 million Malaysian imports from Sri Lanka amounted to US$ 170 million during the same year.