ISKANDAR PUTERI: Malaysia will express its views without fear, be it on the Israeli aggression and colonisation of Gaza or their provocation towards Iran, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim here.
The Prime Minister said Malaysia stood firm and was prepared to face whatever issues were raised.
"At the same time, we observe and adopt the principle and policy of centrality.
"Nobody can dictate that we should be too friendly to Japan or China or the United States.
"We are an open trading country and the policy must be to protect the interests of this nation and our people," he said during his keynote address at the Nikkei Business Forum here.
He added that the United States was still one of the greatest investors and trading partners with Malaysia.
"We have electrical, electronics and semiconductor.
"Presently, 60% of our exports are to the United States. Which means our relations with the United States, notwithstanding our differences on foreign policy issues or the unilateral decision on tariffs, our relationship with the United States must remain strong," he said.
Anwar added that he received word from International Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz on Thursday (June 19) morning about a series of meetings with the United States Commerce Secretary and State Department progressing well on the tariff negotiations.
"But at the same time, we also represent Asean interests, and I agree with the Japanese Prime Minister that the Commerce Minister of Japan should coordinate.
"So that within Asean positions, we work with Japan, Korea and China to engage with the United States," he said.
He stressed that trading investments remain paramount and must be based on the multilateral arrangements.
"So, there are some other issues. Of course, we take a very strong position against the provocative actions by North Korea, which are affecting the security of the region, especially around South Korea and Japan.
He added that Malaysia's relationship with China was very close, as not many countries could record the visits of China's President XI Jinping and Premier Li Chang within a short span to Malaysia if relations were not extremely close.
"As a trading nation, we need all the investments, support, trading, and transfer of technology that China can offer, as the Japanese have offered for decades in the past," he added.
Anwar also talked about the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) as a unique project involving two countries which had gained international attention as a new dynamo.
Anwar, who detailed all the wars and turmoil around the world, said that Asean happened to be one of the most peaceful regions in the world, which was vibrant and dynamic economically.
More to come
