Official welcoming ceremony for French PM

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who is here on a two-day official visit beginning yesterday, was given an official welcoming ceremony at the Dataran Perdana, here today. He was greeted on arrival at the Perdana Putra building at 9.30am by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. Also present were Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa, Cabinet ministers, foreign diplomats and senior government officials. As soon as the national anthems of both countries were played, the French Prime Minister inspected a guard-of-honour mounted by 103 officers and men from the 1st Batallion Royal Malay Regiment. Both leaders then had a closed-door meeting which was expected to discuss bilateral relations and matters of interest to both nations. The last French Prime Minister to make an official visit to Malysia was Pierre Mauroy in 1982. The visit is part of the three-nation visit by Ayrault, which included New Caledonia and South Korea, to enhance and widen cooperation in new and existing areas. Ayrault's visit to Malaysia emphasised the commitment of the French government under the administration of President Francois Hollande to strengthen political relations between the two nations. Later, Ayrault is scheduled to visit the Sendayan Techvalley located in Bandar Sri Sendayan, Negeri Sembilan where he is expected to perform the ground-breaking ceremony for a French investment project worth RM399.6 million. He is also expected to deliver a speech at the Malaysia-France Economic Forum organised by the French Embassy, here with the collaboration of the Malaysia-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry.