Summit founder says he is not organiser of Chinese economic forum

PETALING JAYA: The founder of the Global Chinese Economic and Technology Summit (GCET) has explained that he is not the organiser of the 11th World Chinese Economic Forum (WCEF) which had former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak as its keynote speaker.

Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew said it was true that the WCEF had originally been founded by him in 2009 but the name of the forum has since been changed to World Chinese Economic Summit, and then this year to the GCET.

Lee said it was a "huge embarrassment" for him that Najib is involved in this "new WCEF" that he had nothing to do with and did not organise.

"I have come to know the organiser of the Dec 27 event has been using the name of WCEF and some of our past photos in China two years ago and has called it the 11th WCEF. This will surely cause confusion.

"The organiser of this Dec 27 event should not have called it the 11th WCEF in the first place.This time they invited the former prime minister to that forum, a convicted criminal awaiting the outcome of an appeal," he said.

"Surely they caught media attention, but l need to make my stand clear, we must respect the judiciary and uphold the Rule of Law in Malaysia," added Lee in a statement on Sunday (Dec 26).

Lee added that he felt embarrassed when confronted by friends enquiring if he had invited the former premier to officiate the WCEF event.

"I wish to clarify and to put on record that this new World Chinese Economic Forum has nothing to do with me," he said.