The free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between Malaysia and the European Union (EU) could strengthen Malaysia's bilateral and trade relationship with Austria.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak made this remark in his speech delivered by his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin at the Malaysia- Austria Economic Forum here on Monday.

Also present was Austrian President Heinz Fischer, who is undertaking a state visit to Malaysia until Nov. 9 with his wife and a number of ministers, senior officials and business delegation. This is also the first state visit from Austria to Malaysia.

As the Malaysia-EU FTA would help deepen the reform of the Malaysin economy, Najib hoped that Malaysia and Austria would continue to push-pro-businesses initiatives and encourage the business communities to take advantage of the trade potential between the two nations.

In 2009, Malaysia's bilateral trade with Austria amounted to 298.8 million Euro dollars (416.3 million U.S. dollars). Currently, there are about 40 Austrian companies operating in Malaysia.

Najib invited Austrian companies to explore investment opportunities offered by Malaysia's Economic Transformation Program (ETP) that will see the implementation of 131 entry point projects worth 98.2 billion Euro dollars (136.8 billion U.S. dollars).

The ETP is an ambitious development plan implemented by the Malaysian government to transform Malaysia into a high-income developed country by 2020.

At the initial stage of implementation, 60 business opportunities worth 79.7 billion Euro dollars (111 billion U.S. dollars) would be created, added Najib.

Meanwhile, Najib said Malaysia could learn many things from Austria, while providing reciprocal value to the later.

"I invite you to be our partner in developing our human capital and look forward to building a long and mutually-beneficial relationship between our two countries," said Najib.

As part of the visit program, the president also visited Malacca, a historical state in the central part of the west coast of Peninsula Malaysia on Monday.