Malaysia promises continued aid to help rebuild Bosnia

Kuala Lumpur (dpa) - Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday promised Malaysia's continued help to rebuild war-torn Bosnia-Herzegovina through trade, investment projects and technical training programmes.

The Malaysian premier pledged Kuala Lumpur's continued support at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur with Halid Genjac, the Moslem member of the Bosnian presidency, who arrived Monday for a four-day visit.

Malaysia's deputy foreign minister, Leo Michael Toyad, said the two leaders held talks on Tuesday during which they discussed ways to strengthen bilateral economic and trade ties.

''Now we have Malaysian companies going there to find opportunities for joint investments with Bosnian companies,'' Toyad was quoted as saying by the Malaysian national news agency, Bernama.

Mahathir and Genjac also witnessed the signing of a 20-million-dollar loan agreement by Malaysia's Bank Islam (Labuan) Ltd to finance the building of a Malaysian-Bosnian joint project in Sarajevo.

The project, to be built by the Bosmal D.O.O. firm which comprises investors from both nations, involves acquiring land and constructing a multi-storey commercial and residential complex.

Malaysia is a strong supporter of Bosnia-Herzegovina and has in the past donated funds to build schools and mosques in the country. During the Balkan war, Malaysia accepted and gave asylum to Bosnian Moslem refugees.

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Copyright (c) 2001 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 03/20/2001 05:27:43