Azmin said he was briefed by Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, and had also presented the case to the Cabinet.

“We will meet with my counterpart in Singapore soon and will discuss the details,” he told reporters after delivering a keynote address at the EU-Malaysia Trade and Investment Forum 2018 here today.

Azmin said an announcement on the matter would be made this week.

In his speech earlier, he said total trade between Malaysia and the European Union (EU) increased 25.1% year-on-year (YoY) in April to RM16.15 billion, accounting for 10.4% of Malaysia’s total trade.

Export grew 19.5% YoY to RM8.93 billion, while import increased 32.8% to RM7.22 billion, he said.

He said EU recorded a total foreign direct investment of RM107 billion as at the first quarter of 2018, while Malaysia had invested RM59 billion in Europe, mainly in services worth RM35.3 billion.

Azmin said Malaysia would intensify efforts to attract more quality FDIs going forward, particularly in the green field investments that would contribute to real value creation and spur productivity, innovation and complement the country’s business ecosystem.

“We want to see the establishment of production plants and factories. We also want to see the transfer of technology, generation of employment opportunities and local small and medium enterprises moving up the value chain,” he added.