TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MIAC, FRENCH AEROSPACE COMPANIES TOLD

From Caroline Jackson

PARIS, April 7 (Bernama) -- French aerospace companies should take advantage
of the Malaysian International Aerospace Centre (MIAC) set up by the government
to develop Malaysia into a regional aerospace hub by 2015, says Malaysian Deputy
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said Malaysia was a viable location for manufacturing aircraft
components,
maintenance, repair and overhaul for both regional and global markets.

"One area in which Malaysia and French companies can collaborate in is the
aerospace industry," he told a meeting with French captains of industry
organised by the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA) here.

MIDA is an agency of the Malaysian government set up to advise the federal
and state governments on industrial development policies, advise local and
foreign enterprises on Malaysian industry, manage business licensing and
exemptions from tariffs or import duties, and co-ordinate industrial
development.

Muhyiddin said the government had also announced comprehensive tax
incentives
like tax holidays and allowances to further promote the industry's growth in
Malaysia.

French companies are also encouraged to set up facilities in the fields of
nanotechnology, semiconductors, electronic components, consumer electronics
(high-end products) and industrial electronics, he said.

He said the trend towards extensive applications of electronics in
industries, services and development of multimedia and information
communications technology industries provided ample growth potential for the
electronics industry in Malaysia.

"This is especially so in areas of automation, miniaturisation,
digitalisation
and multimedia applications," he said, adding that the semiconductor sector for
which the country was among the world's major production centres would remain a
key contributor to its growth.

The Deputy Prime Minister said French companies are invited to set up
regional
establishments in Malaysia to serve as affiliates and subsidiaries in the
region.

To date, only 18 of the more than 2,600 regional establishments that have
set
up operations in Malaysia are from France, he said.

On bilateral trade, Muhyiddin said France was Malaysia's fourth largest
trading partner from the 27-member European Union (EU), with total trade volume
amounting to US$3.55 billion and with exports totalling US$1.55 billion against
US$2 billion imports last year.

He said French importers should look into sourcing higher value-added
products
from Malaysia.

Electrical and electronics products are the country's main exports to
France,
totalling US$1.1 billion last year, accounting for 69.2 per cent of
total exports.

On Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Muhyiddin said France was ranked 25th
largest source of foreign investment in Malaysia, with three projects involving
approved capital investment of US$5.6 million.

Eighty-three manufacturing projects from France have been implemented, with
investments amounting to US$496.1 million as at last year, he said.

Investments from France were mainly in the manufacture of machinery and
equipment, electrical and electronics, rubber products and non-metallic
mineral products.

Currently, Lafarge, Technip and Eurocopter are some of the well-known
French
companies operating in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Technip president and chief operating officer Bernard di Tullio
said
the meeting was extremely fruitful.

"I believe all the questions asked to your deputy prime minister concerning
the
New Economic Model (NEM) are very good and precise and the French business
community is extremely excited on this confirmation of what was said last week
by your prime minister (Najib Tun Razak)," he said.

He said Technip, operating in Malaysia since 1982, with a big regional
office in Kuala Lumpur, was investing about 140 million euros for the
construction of its factory.

He said his company was exploring further investments in Malaysia owing to
business viability and political stability as well as reinforcement of the NEM.



Another French businessman, Jean-Paul Moisan, a professor in medical
genetics, who runs the Institute Genetique Nantes Altantique, said he was
studying the possibility of setting up a laboratory in Malaysia on halal food
product certification and forensics DNA identification.

"It's a very interesting meeting that showed Malaysia is a very active
country, a very attractive factor for businessmen like me, thanks to MIDA," he
said, adding that his company was looking at an initial investment of around
500,000 euros to one million euros.

Malaysians would be engaged to work in the facilities as part of the
French-Malaysian collaboration, he added.

-- BERNAMA



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