KUALA LUMPUR: Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz has denied being Malaysia's next ambassador to the United States.
Tengku Zafrul said his ministry is ready to support whoever the next Malaysian ambassador to the United States would be.
“The answer is no. But, I leave it to whoever it is, our ministry is ready to support.
“We need someone on the ground,” said Tengku Zafrul during a press conference at the China Conference Southeast Asia organised by Hong Kong-based news outlet South China Morning Post at a hotel in KL on Monday (Feb 17).
Last Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the candidate for Malaysia’s envoy to the United States has been identified.
Consent to the appointment is expected to be received by the King after Anwar visits Bahrain this week.
This comes after Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz’s two-year term as ambassador to the United States ended on Feb 8.
Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul said the US continues to be a very important trading partner to Malaysia.
“Our number one export destination is the US, and second is China.
“The biggest investments in the last nine months are from US companies,” he said.
Tengku Zafrul said Malaysia will continue to engage the US and address its concerns about investing in Malaysia.
“I’m also planning to go to the US To engage investors,” he added.
According to Tengku Zafrul, he and his ministry are tentatively planning to visit the US again in the second quarter of this year.
“What we are doing is to engage existing companies present in Malaysia and to also engage with companies that may want to invest in Malaysia,” added Tengku Zafrul.
Last year, US goods trade with Malaysia totalled US$80.2bil.
