GOVT TO ESTABLISH FRANCHISE MEDIATION CENTRE BY EARLY NEXT YEAR

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 (Bernama) -- The proposed Franchise Mediation Centre will be established by early 2009 to further enhance ethical business conduct.

The secretary-general of the Malaysian Franchise Association (MFA), Hasma
Ahmad said, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak had announced the initiative to
establish the centre when opening the Franchise International 2008
Exhibition and Conference here last month.

Najib had also said then that the Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperative
Development (MECD) was in the process of drafting a franchise disputes mediation
mechanism suitable for Malaysia under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

Hasma in a statement Wednesday said the centre would be able to resolve
conflicts between franchisors and franchisees, thus averting a potentially
damaging litigation process.

She added that the Australian mediation mechanism was the most suitable
model for Malaysia as a large part of the Franchise Act 1998 is modeled after
the Australian Franchising Code of Conduct.

Hasma said the success rate of franchise disputes mediation in Australia
was quite significant.

Due to the importance of mediation in franchising,the MFA and the MECD
together with Perbadanan Nasional Bhd will jointly organise a talk entitled,
"Mediation - Bringing Franchisors and Franchisees To A New Level of
Relationship," on Sept 11.

"This is a way to educate industry players on why the mediation mechanism
is so imperative in a franchise relationship as well as its role and how it can
help mitigate the differences between franchisor and franchisee," she added.
--BERNAMA