KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 - The European Union (EU) has allocated €600,000 (RM2.4 million) to further boost Malaysia-EU business cooperation, says Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Commission to Malaysia Vincent Piket.
“We are about to start a new strategic project for promoting business-to-business cooperation in the services sector, with emphasis on financial services and environmental and green-technology services.
“I expect this new project to serve as a major boost to Malaysia-EU business cooperation in priority areas for Malaysia’s new economic model,” he told Bernama in an interview.
He said the project would be implemented by the EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in partnership with the Chambers of Commerce of EU member states and Malaysian partners, including the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM).
The EU had earlier presented, to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), trade facilitation projects it had financed between 2006 and 2008.
The EU spent €1.01 billion on 95 capacity building and technical assistance projects which had helped simplify import and export procedures and boosted the ability of developing countries to benefit from trade and open global markets.
Piket said the projects were part of an overall commitment by the European Union to aid trade.
More than €7 billion are disbursed annually to fund projects in Asia (21per cent), Africa (18 per cent), Latin America and the Caribbean (18 per cent), Middle East (four per cent), Oceania (two per cent) as well as non-EU Europe, including the Balkans and Commonwealth of Independent States(37 per cent).
Piket also said between 2006 and 2009, the EU funded 10 trade promotion and business facilitation projects in Malaysia with a total EU contribution of €4million (RM20 million). — Bernama
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