LETTERS: The KL20 Summit on April 22-23 will feature 1,000 international investors and start-ups, and more than 3,000 international and Malaysian participants.
We should use this opportunity to liaise with foreign nations like Lithuania in as many business sectors as possible.
This would be best achieved through the creation of a Malaysian-Lithuanian Chamber of Commerce & Industry, similar to the Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Malaysian-French Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
The chamber can create avenues for Lithuanian businesses to invest in Malaysia and vice versa.
We can engage Startup Lithuania, a department under the country's Economy Ministry that focuses on business stakeholder management, liaising with foreign businesses and developing institutional frameworks.
This has seen success in the number of foreign businesses and start-ups applying to set up shop in the country.
So a partnership such as this would expedite plans for both nations to build start-up ecosystems.
This is in line with the Malaysian government's plan for 5,000 new start-up companies to be created in the digital economy by 2025.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has instructed government agencies to work to position the country to be among the top 20 countries in the global start-up ecosystem by 2030
Also, in 2022, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists.
I believe a dedicated institution like Malaysian-Lithuanian Chamber of Commerce & Industry in 2024 would elevate the level of cooperation between both countries.
PRAVIN PERIASAMY
Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times