French President Francois Hollande (Photo: AFP)French President Francois Hollande visited Malaysia on March 28, with an aim to increase bilateral trade and defence relations.
After arriving, Holland met with Malaysian King Muhammad V and Prime Minister Najib Razak, discussing measures to enhance engagements between the two countries and international and regional affairs of common concerns.
French and Malaysian officials have signed a letter of intent on establishing a mechanism for sustainable agricultural development in Southeast Asia and two memoranda of understanding on stimulating cooperation in trade and defence.
On the occasion, France and Malaysia also inked six memoranda of understanding in energy, science-technology and technology transfer.
Hollande’s visit, the second of a French President to Malaysia, is part of his three-nation tour in Southeast Asia, which takes him to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
In 2016, two-way trade between Malaysia and France climbed 6.3 percent to about 3.5 billion USD. France is currently the fourth biggest European trade partner of Malaysia./.