FRANCE SEEKS TO DIVERSIFY INVESTMENTS IN MALAYSIA

KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 (Bernama) -- France is looking to further diversify
its investment in Malaysia, including services and halal product development,
says International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed.

He said the French government is also seeking Malaysian cooperation on Halal
certification.

This he explained, is to enable, the country's halal products to enter the
Malaysian market.

"Some French companies have their owned halal certifications. The issue
right now, is to match that certification standard, to what is issued by the
Malaysian government.

"In order to promote French agriculture and halal products into
Malaysia, this issue needs to be resolved in the near future," he told reporters
after a bilateral meeting with French Foreign Trade Minister, Anne-Marie Idrac
here, Tuesday.

Mustapa also said that France-based company Glon Grope, plans to set up an
integrated poultry project, in the East Coast Economic Region (ECER).

He said the project would involve an initial investment of RM60 million
(US$18.03 million. (US$1=RM3.32)

"Europe has a very large Muslim population. We hope through the Glon Grope
venture into Malaysia, it will help local products enter the European
markets," he added.

Meanwhile, Idrac said there are 250 French companies having operations in
Malaysia at present.

"This visit is a follow-up to that by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun
Razak last year to France. We are happy about our trade and want to
increase and diversify into other sectors," she explained.

As of 2009, French companies invested a total of US$0.5 billion in 83
manufacturing projects in Malaysia.

In 2009, France was Malaysia's fourth largest trading partner within the
EU27 countries. It accounted for 11.3 per cent of Malaysia's total trade of
US$31.4 billion with the group.

-- BERNAMA