BEIJING: Announcements on the Bandar Malaysia deal will come at another time, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“Let’s focus on Jack Ma today,” he told Malaysian media after arriving from Hangzhou, Zhejiang.
He then talked about his visit to Alibaba’s headquarters in Hangzhou and his meeting with Ma, founder of the Chinese e-commerce company.
“Don’t worry, there will be other announcements coming,” he said before ending the press conference yesterday.
Last week, the Finance Ministry announced that it called off a deal to sell a 60% equity stake in Bandar Malaysia to a consortium comprising China Railway Engineering Corp (M) Sdn Bhd (CREC) and Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd.
Bandar Malaysia is being billed as a catalyst for economic growth and national development, and the biggest development site in the country.
It will also be Malaysia’s transport nucleus, connecting the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail, MRT lines, KTM Komuter, Express Rail Link and 12 highways.
Meanwhile, a CREC official also declined to comment on the Bandar Malaysia deal when approached at another function here yesterday.
He urged reporters to instead focus on the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which he said was the main purpose of Najib’s five-day working visit to China.
The Belt and Road initiative, announced by China in 2013, is aimed at building up the economic connectivity of the 65 nations along the ancient silk road and maritime routes.
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