MELAKA, March 10 (NNN-Bernama): The Melaka government through Tropical Bioessence Sdn Bhd (TBESB) will be signing deals with two well known French companies next week related to the supply of raw materials and perfume production.

Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam said TBESB, a subsidiary company of Melaka BioTech Holdings Sdn Bhd, will join venture with Charabot SA.

"TBESB through the joint venture will supply 36 tonnes of fragrant lemon grass, 72 tonnes of edible lemon grass and 36 tonnes of nilam a month to Charabot, as the basic ingredients for the production of perfume," he told reporters here Wednesday.

A delegation from Melaka, headed by the Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob, as well as Mohd Ali, and State Secretary Omar Kaseh and several officers will be leaving to Paris this Saturday.

Apart from Paris, the state government mission will also visit several European countries including Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Holland for two weeks.

Mohd Ali said a visit will be also made to the perfume factory of Astier Demarest Leoux to gauge the interest of the company in helping entrepreneurs from Melaka to produce perfumes using flowers like jasmine and frangipani.

Besides biotechnology being the focus of the trip to Europe, other areas like agro based tourism, rural development and education will also be looked into.

In Paris, the working visit will also see meetings and briefings with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, an organisation responsible for assessing the level of achievements made by a developed country.

Melaka is scheduled to be declared a developed state according to the OECD definition this October 20.

Mohd Ali said in Germany the delegates will visit the factory of Mulbauer, the world's leading producer of smart chip, and the factory of Infineon, one of the largest investors in Melaka. The company produces semi conductors and sensors.

Since its establishment in Melaka in 1973, Infineon has invested in the Batu Berendam Free Trade Zone to a tune of RM5 billion and has 5,600 workers, making it the biggest such facility in Asia Pacific.

The trip to Lucerne in Switzerland meanwhile will see a visit to its water taxi system and in Amsterdam, the delegates will have an insight into the use of boat transportation.

-NNN-BERNAMA