KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's active non-alignment policy makes it attractive for defence partnerships and investments, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said this policy allows Malaysia to maintain working relationships across all major partners.
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"A Malaysian supplier enters a supply chain without the political complications that have made sourcing decisions so difficult elsewhere.
"In the current environment, that is a genuine commercial consideration," he said in his speech before launching the Defence Services Asia (DSA) and National Security (Natsec) Asia 2026 exhibitions on Monday (April 20).
The defence industrial base that the government is trying to build is one where Malaysian companies earn and hold their place in international supply chains on the strength of their work, where the discipline that wins a contract also keeps it.
"That is the only foundation worth building on," Anwar added.
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He said the government will ensure that intellectual property will be protected promptly and reliably.
"Strategic trade controls will be enforced. Contracts will hold.
"The law will apply to everyone in the same way, without exception," he said.
The Prime Minister said the government's role in all of this is to create the conditions for serious work to happen.
"Commercial decisions belong to the companies. What belongs to us is the quality of the ground beneath those decisions," he said.
He added that the conversations that will matter most during the exhibtions will take place between people who are meeting for the first time, working through problems that have not yet been fully defined, in the early stages of work that may take years to bear fruit.
"We are glad to be hosting those conversations, and we look forward to what comes out of them," he said.
DSA and Natsec Asia 2026, themed "Enhancing Capabilities and Resilience Through Technology", will feature a range of programmes, including exhibitions by local and international defence industry players, defence forums, contract signing ceremonies, the presentation of letters of intent, as well as Industrial Collaboration Programme (ICP) documents.
