On 5 December 2018, HE Dato’ Dr. Azfar Mohamad Mustafar, Ambassador of France to Malaysia had a luncheon meeting with Mr. Arnaud Viala, a Member of the National Assembly (Lower House of Parliament) and President of the France-Brunei-Malaysia Friendship Group. The luncheon was at the latter’s invitation and held at the National Assembly.
Mr. Viala mentioned that the group would like to understand and learn more about the priorities of Malaysia and to identify several topics that could be discussed during the meeting.
HE Dato’ Dr. Azfar mentioned about the general election in Malaysia and the bilateral cooperation between Malaysia and France. Malaysia has a good defense cooperation and would like to broaden bilateral cooperation by increasing P2P, economic activities as well as on the exchange of students, among others. Another issue of interest is on palm oil.
Mr. Viala and the other MPs of the Friendship Group enquired more on palm oil to better understand the issue. Other matters that were discussed between the Ambassador and MPs included tourism, culture, climate change, the ongoing Gilet Jaunes’ protests as well as the comparison between Malaysia’s and France’s executive and legislative power.
The MPs also mentioned about the possibility of a visit to Malaysia. Topics to be discussed would include palm oil, economic opportunities and the usage of the French language in schools as well as to meet Malaysian Members of Parliament.
