TRADE, INVESTMENT SEMINAR IN FRANKFURT WOOS LARGE CORPORATE CROWD

By Manik Mehta

FRANKFURT, April 22 (Bernama) -- Malaysia continues to have "star" appeal
as a trade and investment destination among foreign investors, Juergen
Ratzinger, managing director (international business) of the Frankfurt
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Tuesday.

This was evident from the large hall of the Intercontinental Hotel in
Frankfurt packed to capacity by representatives of German companies and other
organisations to attend a seminar on trade and investment in Malaysia despite
new Minister of International Trade and Industry Mustapa Mohamed was
unable to attend it at the last minute due to "pressing official engagements" at
home.

Mustapa is in the delegation of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak
who is currently visiting Indonesia.

This was supposed to have been Mustapa's first major overseas event in his
capacity as a cabinet member of the new government.

Nevertheless, he was represented by the Malaysian Ambassador to Germany,
Zakaria Sulong, who read out the minister's text of speech.

Ratzinger said he viewed the packed house as a vindication of the fact that
Malaysia has "star appeal".

"Just as Frankfurt is a core attraction for Germany's business, so does
Malaysia for Germans interested in tapping the Southeast Asian region," he said
in an interview with Bernama during a break at the seminar.

He also urged German businesses to demonstrate "confidence and optimism" in
the face of the ongoing economic crisis which is leaving behind a trail of
disaster for many German companies facing closures.

He also underscored the importance of Frankfurt as Germany's economic
powerhouse, saying that the decision by both Malaysian Industrial Development
Authority (MIDA) and Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE)
to relocate their offices from Cologne to Frankfurt was "fully justified."

Ratzinger said the Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce had supported
the third such seminar jointly hosted by MIDA and MATRADE in Frankfurt.

"Some of the interesting features about Malaysia for German companies are
its quality and increasing prosperity and, in effect, an interesting market for
German products, a stable country located right in the heart of the Asean group
with 600 million consumers," he said.

Ratzinger also said the Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce offered
its members a wide range of services, including formulating business plans for
young entrepreneurs, appropriate training, legal information and consultancy for
foreign markets.

"Seminars such as this are interesting for us because we
get concentrated information about foreign markets," he said.

Deeply impressed by the "excellent organisational abilities" of the
Malaysian organisers, Ratzinger said he was "pleasantly surprised" to see such a
large turnout despite the economic downturn and when German companies are
drastically cuting down costs.

Hesse, the German state where Frankfurt is located, achieved a trade
turnover of US$1 billion, he said.

In May 2010, the apex organisation of German chambers of commerce will be
organising its annual conference in Singapore. "We would also like to visit
Malaysia then," he added.

Malaysian Ambassador based in Berlin, Zakaria Sulong, reading out
Mustapa's text of speech, pointed out that Malaysia was the only Muslim country
in the world to have a "sustained democratic set up".

He highlighted the "smooth transition" of power from former Prime Minister
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to Najib.

Zakaria said Najib had emphatically told the people that his government was
committed to the "One Malaysia" concept, reflecting the idea of a multi-racial,
multi-cultural and multi-religious society, with each community respecting the
rights of the others.

The government would continue with its "pro-business policy". Malaysia,
having built up its forex reserves to finance imports of up to 7 to 9 months,
is the "most diversified economy of the world".

Zakaria said even during the current economic gloom worldwide, Malaysia is
expected to achieve 3.5 per cent growth this year.

Germany was the biggest European Union (EU) investor in Malaysia last year,
investing 956 million euros. Malaysia, on the other hand, emerged the largest
exporting nation in the Asean community to Germany.

Lars Winkelmann, managing director of Multitest Electronics System, a German
company based in Penang, provided an "alibi" of Malaysia's pro-business
government.

He cited a host of tax incentives, intellectual property protection and
excellent infrastructure.

The 70-odd Malaysian delegation representing Malaysia's corporate sector and
other organisations include MIDA director-general Datuk Jalilah Baba, MATRADE
chief executive officer Datuk Noharuddin Nordin, Federation of Malaysian
Manufacturers president Datuk Mustafa Mansur and senior state government
officials. -- BERNAMA