malaysiang
KUALA LUMPUR: The government has called on the French business community in the country to enhance cooperation as Malaysia assumes the ASEAN chair next year to create a prosperous community, said Deputy Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Liew Chin Tong. “Let’s work together to build stronger ties between Malaysia and France, not just in business but also in culture and people-to-people relationships,” he said at the Malaysian French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFM) gala dinner tonight.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Liew noted that Malaysia and France have built strong trade and investment ties over the past decades, with a total of 600 French companies operating in Malaysia. Last year, France ranked as Malaysia’s third-largest trading partner within the European Union (EU), with total trade amounting to RM16.72 billion, accounting for about eight percent of Malaysia’s total trade with the EU.
French investments in Malaysia are diverse, encompassing sectors such as electrical and electronics
, infrastructure, aeronautics and defense, manufacturing, retail, and services. Liew highlighted the government’s mission to increase the wealth of Malaysians and the people of ASEAN, which has a population of 670 million today.
He emphasized the need to envision a world with additional consumer markets beyond the United States, Europe, and China, citing ASEAN, South America, and the Middle East and Africa as potential markets. To realize this vision, French companies in Malaysia and ASEAN are encouraged to pay better salaries to workers in the region, enabling them to join the middle class. In return, French companies would benefit from having markets for their products outside the traditional economic hubs of the United States, Europe, and China.
