Wfc and Apfc Meetings This August in Kuala Lumpur in Conjunction With the Fim 2008, 31st July - 3rd August 08

This is truly an honor to MFA which has been striving very hard towards the growth of franchising industry worldwide, thanks to the Malaysian government's franchise friendly policies. It will enable us to play a more significant role to ensure a multilateral co-operation within the region in order to leverage on the global franchise scene.» says MFA chairman, Dato' Mukhriz Tun Dr. Mahathir.

By organizing an international conference like such, MFA hopes to encourage more foreign investors in the country to boost the local franchise industry. «By having foreign franchise business in Malaysia, it will also make local franchise business more competitive.» he adds. The WFC and APFC are both the amicable, non-political associations of National Franchise Associations. The objectives are to inform each member countries of the developments and to represent international franchising to international bodies. The full memberships are open to all National Franchise Associations whose constitution requires a subscribing membership and a governing body which is in the majority composed of franchising companies. For each country, only one national franchise association will be recognized. The secretariat moves from country to country.

Under the umbrella of WFC, there are 38 franchise associations from all over the world: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, China, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, U.S.A. and the European Franchise Federation. While the APFC has 16 franchise associations within the Asia Pacific region: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, New Zealand, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India and Korea.

Franchising Association of India (www.fai.co.in) is an active member of World Franchise Council and Asia Pacific Franchise Confederation. It has helped its members to expand internationally.

MFA is also one of the founding members of both WFC and APFC which were established in 1994 and 1998 respectively. The meetings will be held in conjunction with the Franchise International Malaysia 2008 (FIM2008) exhibition and conference that is scheduled from 31st July to 3rd August 2008 at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), Kuala Lumpur.

«This year, we will be witnessing the presence of the heads of franchise associations and key players in the franchise industry all over the world from countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Argentina, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, China, Japan, Australia, Singapore and the Philippines. We foresee a bigger influx of foreign participation in the exhibition and conference exceeding last year's 35 per cent due to MFA hosting both WFC and APFC meetings.» Mukhriz says.

Besides exhibition and conference, several value-added programs are also outlined such as seminar, workshop, dialogue, trade visit and meeting with government officials for international participants.