Malaysia is targeting the tourism sector to boost and strengthen the bilateral ties with India. About half a million Indian tourists visited Malaysia last year, said Dato' Tan Seng Sung, high commissioner of Malaysia.

"We want Indians to go to Malaysia not only for holidays, but also for business meetings as interesting venues for conferences are available at a cheaper rate. We also want Indians to choose Malaysia as a wedding-cum-honeymoon destination," he said at a press meet in the city organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce. He was speaking to reporters after meeting the state's tourism minister, Manab Mukherjee.

According to the high commissioner, Mukherjee expressed his desire to start direct flights between Kolkata and Malaysia. At present, Malaysia operates direct flights to Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Total bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $4.09 billion from January to May this year, as against $2.94 billion in the year-ago period. The amount is expected to go up to $16 billion by 2012.

At present, India imports crude petroleum, palm oil, electrical and electronic products from Malaysia, and exports chemicals and chemical products, live animals and refined petroleum products.

The two countries have identified sectors like petroleum and gas, IT, healthcare, education, processed food, medicine, construction and engineering as major areas of collaboration. Some of the major Indian companies like Reliance Industries (polyester and textiles products), Ranbaxy, Godrej, TCL Industries (petroleum products including petrochemicals) are present in Malaysia.

On the other hand, major Malaysian companies have invested in sectors like construction, power generation, telecommunications and resort sectors in India, said the high commissioner.