MALAYSIA AND EU TO BEGIN FTA TALKS IN DECEMBER

BRUSSELS, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and the European Commission launched
the negotiations for the Malaysia-European Union (EU) Free Trade Agreement
(MEUFTA) and the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) here Tuesday,
signalling a new era of cooperation between both sides.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said negotiations would commence
in December and expressed the hope that it could be completed in 18
months or not later than two years.

"My mandate to them is to be as creative as possible to find solutions and
to be able to complete this within the timeframe," he told a joint media
conference with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.

Najib, who earlier held a meeting with Barroso, said he was confident that
the two agreements would put the Malaysia-EU relations "on the right
trajectory."

He said Malaysia viewed the EU as a valuable partner.

Meanwhile, Barroso said the FTA would give a real boost to trade between
the EU and Malaysia and expressed the hope that officials from both sides would
be able to achieve concrete results.

The EU accounted for 11.2 per cent of Malaysia's global trade and 10.8 per
cent of Malaysia's total exports.

Realised foreign direct investments (FDIs) from the EU to Malaysia as of Dec
31 last year amounted to US$13.6 billion, mainly in the manufacturing sector.

As a regional grouping, the EU is Malaysia's largest source of FDI.

The PCA is expected to further strengthen cooperation between Malaysia and
the EU in areas including political relations, trade and investment, science
and technology, health, energy, transport, agriculture, banking, maritime and
other areas through dialogues.

The MEUFTA is expected to progressively enhance market access opportunities
for trade in goods and services, liberalise investment regimes in Malaysia
and the EU as well as provide for economic cooperation.