M'sia appreciates Ethiopia's unequivocal support in BRICS , says Anwar

The Star

Malaysia appreciates Ethiopia's full and unequivocal support in its journey towards becoming a BRICS partner country, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.  Anwar said that Ethiopia, as a member of BRICS, has been an important pillar for Malaysia's application to join the bloc, which collectively accounts for one-fifth of global trade.  He said during a joint press conference with Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed Ali at the Seri Perdana Complex, Putrajaya on Saturday (Oct 26).    WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00I would like to welcome Dr Abiy Ahmed Ali in his maiden visit to Malaysia with the members

00:09of his delegation.

00:12Ethiopia is of course not as close as we do expect, but it is a long tradition, historical,

00:22sentimental with Malaysia.

00:26And I mentioned to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali that he would be surprised that an ordinary

00:38Malaysian would know Habesha, those days we call, or Ethiopia, and with strong sentiment

00:47and affection.

00:49Because the first emigration, as he said, by the Prophet's uncle to Habesha, during

00:58the reign of King Najashi, a Christian king, and throughout Islamic history considered

01:08to be a just, compassionate king, who gave protection to the Muslims when they were under

01:16siege and being oppressed by the Quraysh from Mecca.

01:23So it's always something that we view first, the honour, respect given by a just, compassionate

01:32king, Christian king, to the Muslims.

01:36And for us in Malaysia, where we have a multi-religious country with Muslim majority, but we have

01:43a substantial number of Christians and Buddhists and Hindus and other religions, this message

01:49is to me very pertinent.

01:52It helps us.

01:53So this is the historical context.

01:55And of course, after mentioning that, Prime Minister Abiy immediately told me, but yeah,

02:00don't forget Bilal, because Bilal is from Ethiopia, from Habesha, and from a slave,

02:10given freedom, and elevated as a companion of the Prophet, and later became governor

02:20of Madinah.

02:21So you see, then that is a history, it's like a part of our history, Ethiopia.

02:28And now we have a Prime Minister here, and that's why I just consider him to be part

02:35of the great family.

02:37And I think his visit, other than, of course, focusing on trade, bilateral relations, economy,

02:47energy, food technology, I cannot ignore the fact that it is, of course, an important country

02:58to us.

02:59He met Medi and rode into Africa, and he, under his stewardship, many of you may not

03:07be that familiar, it's a phenomenal growth.

03:11He has affected so much change and reform in Ethiopia, and there's so much things in

03:17common.

03:18We did, suffered a very turbulent period in our lives, and he's given, entrusted this

03:24great job, but he has done it.

03:27And if you study development, recent development in Ethiopia, you will see how the economy,

03:35the governance, the anti-corruption drive, the changes, the quality of education, the

03:40airlines, in every field, you have grown.

03:45And I think, in all humility, I must say, in Malaysia, we should emulate your success,

03:51learn from your experience, and sharing part of our experience and contribution in trying

03:57to make sure that Malaysia remains a stable, peaceful country, but at the same time, propel

04:06its economy.

04:07So my dear friend and brother, Dr. Abiy Muhammad Ali, may I again assure you that this is not

04:19a normal encounter between representative countries, but among family members, and we

04:28want to ensure that this first major visit by an African leader, and incidentally, Ethiopia

04:37is one of the largest African countries, a major country in its ability to foster African

04:47unity and collaboration, and you have given this sort of recognition to us, and we do

04:56honour and appreciate.

04:58And finally, on BRICS, you know, he just came back from the BRICS meeting, and on behalf

05:05of the government, I must again express my profound appreciation and thanks, because

05:12even before my meeting him, even communicating with him, he was one of the pillars, an important

05:22member of the original BRICS.

05:24They gave full, unequivocal support to Malaysia to be part of BRICS.

05:31So thank you again.

05:33Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

05:40Thank you, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, for your warm welcome, according to me and

05:47my delegation, we've been witnessing how generous people, how generous country, and how generous

05:57Prime Minister, but for such a kind hospitality for me and my delegation, I had the great

06:07opportunity to see your city since our arrival, I have visited Botanical Garden, a very beautiful

06:17green space.

06:18I also had a chance to visit Proton Assembly, which shows the capability of Malaysia in

06:27terms of working together on industry sector.

06:31Similarly, my delegation and I enjoyed an evening walk around Petronas Towers.

06:41We have witnessed space, green space, clean street, clean walkway, and very beautiful

06:50infrastructure, which invites people to walk more, that's why I walked more than two hours.

06:58Most of my delegation could make it to walk for two hours, some of them, they couldn't

07:04finish the race.

07:06It shows how difficult it was, but we have enjoyed a lot.

07:11Our discussion today, we have renewed our bilateral relationship and our friendship.

07:21As I have said earlier, it's tested through time that we have a very long-standing diplomatic

07:28ties, more than half a century, and this relationship requires to be renewed, to be strengthened

07:35by the visit of this kind.

07:40We have also agreed to deepen our collaboration across several key areas, agriculture, industry,

07:48mining, trade and investment.

07:51There are plenty of opportunities from both sides.

07:55The discussion was very fruitful, so as to enhance our cooperation in all sectors, and

08:04I take this opportunity to encourage Malaysian businesses to seize the opportunity in Ethiopia,

08:13which is a rapidly growing economy.

08:17There are lots of opportunities.

08:19My administration and myself are devoted to support the private sector from Malaysia,

08:27which I have sent through my dear friend, Prime Minister Anwar.

08:33My office will support you.

08:34Come and seize the opportunity, and I'm sure through the private sector, through tourism,

08:40through G2G relationship, we will definitely strengthen our bilateral relationship.

08:49There are plenty of areas that Ethiopia could learn from this great country.

08:53In terms of federal system, we also follow federal system.

08:57In terms of exercising democracy, there are areas that we can learn from you.

09:03We are building infrastructures.

09:06There are plenty of areas that we can learn from Malaysia in terms of modernizing our

09:11cities and building our infrastructures.

09:14So in conclusion, Mr. Prime Minister, once again, I extend my sincere thanks to you and

09:21to the people of Malaysia, which is a very calm, grounded, smiling people.

09:27Through work, I have witnessed how the people of Malaysia is loving and smiling.

09:33That's a very warm feeling that we have yesterday when we work across the city area.

09:42So Ethiopia looks forward to continue our close collaboration, and I look forward to

09:48welcoming you in Ethiopia to visit the capital city of Africa.

09:52We are more than willing to reciprocate what we have witnessed at the friendly and brotherly

10:00reception.

10:04You will definitely enjoy visiting Ethiopia because there are lots of history, culture,

10:09beautiful sceneries, not exactly like you, but very warm and smiling people as well.

10:15Thank you very much.

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