Petronas Mitco Secures RM14 Million Order

From Jeffri Mohd RafieeDOHA, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- Petronas Mitco has succeeded in securing a RM14 million order at a business meeting held in conjunction with the trade and investment visit to Qatar, spearheaded by the Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Mustapa Mohamed.Mustapa said the order is for Ethlene Dichloride and there was a further potential of RM28 million in sales for the product."This is the outcome to date.The potential for Malaysian entrepreneurs is fairly significant," he added.Petronas Mitco is the marketing, trading and procurement arm of Malaysia's national petroleum compay, Petronas. Two senior officers from its Middle-East branch, joined the week-long trade and investment mission, covering apart from Qatar, Egpyt and Saudi Arabia, from last Sunday.Mustapa, also held a dialogue with 120 Malaysians who are among the estimated 1,300 working as lawyers,engineers and consultants in this Arab state.He said:"We are proud that Malaysians have found a place in Qatar and a number of them are working with Qatar Holdings."Qatar Holding is a strategic and direct investment arm of the Qatar government and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority."This shows that the human capital from Malaysia is of quality, to the extent of being well received by the government and people of Qatar."They are playing an important role and should become mini-ambassadors, assisting our embassy here to promote Malaysia, and pave the way for Malaysian companies," Mustapa said.He stated that he had emphasised to those at the dialogue, that what was equally important is not just the Malaysian companies in Qatar but also the people and Qatari companies investing, taking a holiday, studying and receiving treatment in Malaysia.The prospects for enhancing relations between Qatar and Malaysia will be made easier with the close relations that has been established.The personal contact being developed, will hopefully improve Qatar's investment in Malaysia.To date, Qatar's biggest investment in Malaysia is via the 70 per cent equity in the Asian Finance Bank and 49 per cent in the Pavilion Mall in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.Mustapa conceded that while Malaysian professionals had obtained good jobs and were successful in Qatar, Malaysian companies had not done as well, due to the very competitive environment and existing business risks."This is normal in business and not something to be worried about. We cannot expect an easy path. What is important is, we must learn. In this context, we must have a beginning and I am confident that with the experience from here, they can build on their ability and one day successfully compete in Qatar," he said.--BERNAMA