(Front row, from second left) Chong, Dr Wee and Ee cutting a cake at the dinner in Kuala Lumpur with MCFAMAA committee members.
THE setting up of the Malaysia-China Friendship and Mutual Aid Association (MCFAMAA) will help streamline economic issues, especially in providing China’s businesses better access to the Malaysian market, says MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
He hoped the association would facilitate closer ties between both nations, which would help boost tourism and economic development to benefit both countries.
Dr Wee, who is also Ayer Hitam MP, was the guest of honour at a dinner in Kuala Lumpur to mark the formation of MCFAMAA.
“The association can play a vital role to bolster cross-border cultural and education exchanges,” he said in his speech.
Dr Wee said Malaysia had taken its relationship with China to a higher level by enhancing cultural, economic, education and social programmes between the two nations via the MCFAMAA that obtained approval from the Registrar of Societies last year.
About 160 guests including MCFAMAA committee members, local politicians and business players from China attended the dinner.
MCFAMAA vice-president Dr Cherry Wei XiaoYun, who spoke on behalf of Minister-Counsellor Ma Cuihong of the China Embassy in Malaysia, said there was an increase in the number of Chinese nationals travelling to Malaysia for business, studies and tourism.
More Malaysians were also making their way to China, he noted, with more than 40,000 visas already issued this year.
MCFAMAA president James Ee Kah Fuk, who is also a panel lawyer at the embassy, hoped the association could help Malaysia and Chinese nationals living in both countries seek legal redress in emergency situations.
He noted there had been an increase in the number of fraud cases involving Chinese investments and direct sales.
Datuk Seri Michael Chong, who is active in highlighting consumers’ issues in the media, echoed a similar view.
He also encouraged more Chinese nationals to come to Malaysia for tourism and education, while exploring the local culture.
