Senior EC officials to discuss framework for agreement
BERNAMA | September 25, 2006
Senior EC Officials To Discuss Framework For Agreement
From Tengku Noor Shamsiah
BRUSSELS, Sept 25 (Bernama) — Senior officials from the European Commission (EC) will visit Kuala Lumpur next month to discuss the framework for the possibility of signing a Partnership Cooperation Agreement (PAC) between the European Union (EU) and Malaysia.
Head of Mission to the European Communities and Malaysian Ambassador to Belgium, Datuk Muhammad Kamal Yan Yahya, said the meeting, from Oct 1-2, would be led by EC deputy-director-general of external relations, Herve Jouanjean.
"This is the second EC-Malaysia Senior Officials Meeting to be held in Kuala Lumpur," Muhammad Kamal told Bernama, here Sunday.
He said one of the important issues was that the EC has proposed to Malaysia a PAC which would cover, among others, political and economic relations and human rights.
He said relations between Malaysia and the EU focused on economic ties and cooperation in areas like the protection and sustainable management of forests, facilitation of trade and investment especially between small- and medium enterprises, higher education, information technology and research.
"While Malaysia has its embassy to the EU in Brussels for years, the executive arm, EC, only set up a specific delegation in Kuala Lumpur in April 2, 2003 to closely monitor and pro-actively steer, deepen and widen the relations.
The delegation here is headed by Ambassador and head of EU delegation to Malaysia, Thierry Rommel.
Muhammad Kamal said the delegation would allow a more effective delivery of what the EU could bring to Malaysia in areas like trade, investment, two-way mobility of peoples and mutual understanding, cultural cooperation, transfer of technology, shared research, political dialogue and cooperation.
He said Malaysia has become a crucial partner for EU in terms of bilateral relations like between EU and Association of South-East Asian Nations and between the EU and East and South-East Asia.
"As long as I am around I want to enhance these relations. "EU is an important trading partner to Malaysia," he said.
Total trade between Malaysia and the EU in 2005 rose by 4.4 percent to RM13.14 billion. Exports rose by 5.2 percent to RM62.63 billion. Trade surplus with the EU amounted to RM12.12 billion in 2005.
Major exports to the EU were electrical and economic products (59.6 percent), palm oil (6.4 percent), machinery appliances and parts (3.5 percent), optical and scientific equipment (3.1 percent) and textiles and clothing (2.9 percent).
In terms of imports, major products from the EU consist of electrical and electronic products (41.9 percent), transport equipment (7.3 percent) and iron and steel products (6.4 percent).
