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00:00Thank you again to Tunggu Zafrul, SIDU and Deputy Minister, of course Bloomberg, and CIMB, of course.
00:14CIMB have little choice when Zafrul is involved.
00:19Thank you very much.
00:21As mentioned by Zafrul, it's been a long day, but it's worth the effort.
00:27We had, I should say, excellent or fruitful meeting with President Donald Trump.
00:37We got him to dance initially so that things cooled off a bit better.
00:43I was fully briefed, and the exchanges have been useful.
00:48I mean, the right with him in the car allowed me to raise some very, very pertinent questions close to our heart on multilateralism,
01:00the need to maintain centrality of ASEAN, particularly Malaysia, to engage with the West and the East,
01:07to go strong, formidable relations in terms of investment and trade with the United States of America,
01:15at the same time forge a very strong new alliance with China.
01:21Mind you, don't envy me on this.
01:23But at least I could share with him, frankly, some of these issues.
01:28And then to explain to him why the issue, for example, Gaza is very painful and affecting the ramifications throughout the world,
01:38and particularly more so in this region.
01:41And also given him the opportunity to articulate his vision, his views.
01:47But finally, during the bilateral meeting between Malaysia and President Donald Trump, it went very well.
01:56We had, I think, Guzafro mentioned this today, that we managed to resolve most of the issues.
02:08We told him that, you know, very difficult for an independent country like Malaysia,
02:14with, of course, much weaker opposition than one-third in parliament,
02:19but still very vociferous, very strong in their views,
02:23to be seen to be submitting, compliant to other powers.
02:30So I assured him that our fundamental focus is, of course, trade and investments.
02:36And I mentioned the Bloomberg Business Summit.
02:43Yeah.
02:44And he said, why?
02:45I said, I don't know.
02:46You asked Bloomberg.
02:49And then, of course, we had the U.S.-ASEAN Summit,
02:56where extraordinary patience on the part of President Trump.
03:02Most of the advisors were a bit surprised because I took over the chair and we followed the rules.
03:14Opening remarks by the chair and opening remarks by the president and followed by all the leaders.
03:22No interruption.
03:24And then the response.
03:27You didn't see this in Sharon Shek, but it happened here.
03:31So I think ASEAN, as a cohesive, formidable group, did impress him.
03:39The things that we do share in common, there was consensus built on the need to maintain our centrality,
03:49to continue to engage with the United States and China and the rest.
03:52And for Malaysia, this is more pertinent.
03:58And I took, of course, the opportunity to explain Malaysia's position.
04:03The statistics of economic figures, of course, Zafro has referred to, alluded to briefly.
04:09But I think Malaysia is one of the most politically stable countries, certainly so in the region.
04:19And I don't know what you call if two-thirds majority in parliament should be stable.
04:26In fact, when I was in the opposition, I would never believe that why should the government have two-thirds majority.
04:34I mean, that was when I was in the opposition.
04:37Now I realize if you're stable and there's clarity in terms of policies, a clear direction.
04:45You talk about semiconductor strategy, you talk about new industrial master plan,
04:51you talk about energy transition or digital transformation, there's clarity of these policies.
04:58Once there's clarity, it's easy for policymakers, easy for the investors, both domestic and foreign investors.
05:06But we have to steer and be focused.
05:09And our initial challenge, and I took over as Prime Minister, the effectiveness, the effective execution of policies.
05:22Because people are not familiar with the style.
05:25There is whether we need to have commissions.
05:30For the elites, we call it commissions.
05:33For the poorer segment, we call it corruption.
05:37So if this was the corruption commission, to me, it's damn bloody same thing.
05:45But still, we need to correct these misperceptions and to ensure that we focus also on governance.
05:55Most economists, most elites, want to talk about economic fundamentals.
05:59But to me, without good governance, economic fundamentals don't work
06:04because you do not serve the country and the community.
06:09So that has been our challenge in the last few years.
06:14And we have seen the results initially, both in terms of growth, in terms of even equity,
06:26the principles of equity.
06:27I'm very passionate about these views because I cannot rationalize.
06:36I mean, I think morally unacceptable for any government and political elite to accept gross inequities,
06:47and grinding poverty in the midst of plenty.
06:53So there must be clear policy.
06:54Even then, we do shift from the conventional, traditional notion of a new economic policy
07:02where we place too much importance to racial composition to a policy based on needs.
07:10Yes, affirmative action, but based on needs.
07:15Poverty means poverty.
07:18The need to, for social mobility means to deal with those who need the necessary support.
07:29So these policies are made clear.
07:31And since Zafru didn't use the text, I'm not going to refer to the text.
07:35We can't have the minister outshining the prime minister.
07:42So these are important issues to my mind.
07:47Tomorrow, I'll have breakfast with Premier Li Chiang.
07:51Can you imagine?
07:52I was in a private conversation with President Donald Trump,
07:58and tomorrow morning, a very private breakfast with Premier Li Chiang.
08:03I mean, that explains that Malaysia is a trading nation.
08:08Yes, we have differences.
08:11But we cannot be compelled or dictated to insist to follow any particular interest
08:19except to represent our interest and to focus on economic fundamentals,
08:26which means business and investments.
08:30And I think that mean, well, I mean, Zafru referred to the fact that I am continuing with one meeting,
08:42Makani of Canada, Ramaphosa of South Africa, Antonio Costa of EU,
08:48and Lula da Silva of Brazil, because these are regional heads.
08:56I happen to be just a coordinator here.
08:58And we will, you know, need to focus on, if you talk about economic fundamentals,
09:06and as a trading nation, we need to explore new horizons, new markets.
09:12Traditionally, not just trade investments, it's with the United States.
09:19To me, it's no issue.
09:21We'll continue to do that.
09:23But at the same time, we have seen phenomenal increase of trade investments with China.
09:30But we thought, with Canada, with South Africa, with the African continent, with Latin America,
09:40there is enormous potential.
09:42Even within ASEAN, once we admit that this is relatively one of the freest regions in the world,
09:51or a peaceful region in the world, it is the fastest growing economy in the world,
09:58what we lack within ASEAN is inter-ASEAN trade and investments.
10:04And we're now pushing that agenda ahead.
10:07ASEAN power grid, for example.
10:12Digitalization and connectivity in the region.
10:15Other than issues of food security, maritime security, and et cetera.
10:21Even maritime security.
10:23Can you imagine?
10:25We made a deal with the United States to try and enhance our capabilities in terms of maritime.
10:37At the same time, tomorrow, we get China to be equally involved.
10:41We are involved with India to protect the maritime security of the Indian Ocean.
10:48It's no issue.
10:49Our people do talk about South China Sea, et cetera, et cetera.
10:53But I think for an emerging economy, for a trading nation in the region which is peaceful,
11:00it is our task to ensure that this region remains peaceful.
11:05We talk about the Cambodia-Thailand border crisis.
11:11Well, it is small compared to some other major upheavals.
11:22But to us, it's huge.
11:23The moment there was a conflict, some shooting, then immediately all my colleagues then say,
11:28look, let's do something.
11:30We contacted them and persuaded them to come to Kuala Lumpur.
11:34And, of course, President Trump also did make calls to them.
11:40And that's why we signed the accord, witnessed by President Trump and Anwar's affair.
11:44But what I want to suggest to you is that because this region is considered to be the most peaceful region in the world,
11:54even small commission is big to us.
11:57And to me, it augurs very well for the future of this region.
12:03Similarly, this problem in Myanmar, it is still problematic.
12:11We have formulated this five-point consensus, some of the broad parameters that all ASEAN countries have agreed to.
12:21But still, we continue to engage.
12:24I met the military junta chief twice, once in Bangkok and once in Beijing.
12:32And to tell him that no arguments, ceasefire is a must.
12:36Otherwise, no point talking.
12:39And that was a precondition for us to support them in terms of humanitarian assistance,
12:45particularly after the earthquake, devastating earthquake, and setting up the military hospital or the field hospital.
12:55And they agreed with the terms.
12:57Yes, they are askemishes, but certainly much smaller as compared to what happened in the last few years.
13:04We have 200,000 refugees from Myanmar or rahiyas here.
13:09But in the last one year, we don't encounter such problems.
13:17Now, and the other condition we imposed was that you must allow for complete total excess of humanitarian assistance,
13:29irrespective of their differences or political differences or groups.
13:35And they did agree.
13:36And our military hospital did not face or encounter problems in getting patients from all groups.
13:46And to my mind, it's a major change.
13:50I mean, it's not satisfactory, of course.
13:51We talk about human rights.
13:53But still, to me, it's a gradual progress that we have seen.
13:57And I'm quite confident that if we continue to engage, it may help to resolve.
14:02But I know this is a business conference.
14:06But the business summit can only be effective when the country is peaceful, politically stable,
14:14and we have crafted economic policies that's attractive for investments, both domestic and foreign,
14:26and conducive environment for business.
14:29That I can assure you, because I waited quite some time to become the prime minister
14:37and had to study hard in prison for more than ten and a half years.
14:45So, books published before 2015, most of the important books I have read.
14:52No, recent one, maybe less, because I didn't have that much time anymore.
14:58Because every time people buy me books, cintong, this kid to give me a book,
15:02I say, you have given me ten years ago, when I was there, inside.
15:05I have all the time in the world.
15:06So, anyway, thank you very much.
15:08And I apologize for coming a bit late, and having to leave.
15:14So, Bloomberg, you owe me one dinner, because I'm not having dinner to you tonight.
15:18But certainly, I look forward to, thank you, Slinda.
15:23I mean, you have a good Bloomberg agent here.
15:27And thank you very much.
15:29I mean, you have been very supportive.
15:32We need your support.
15:33We need your confidence.
15:35And I tell you one thing.
15:37What I have learned all these years during the trials and tribulations
15:42and the hardship that I had to endure, myself, my wife, my children, my friends.
15:50What have I learned?
15:52Human dignity.
15:55Integrity.
15:57And do whatever it takes to make sure that Malaysia become a very successful economy,
16:07that you can be able to serve your people, irrespective of race or creed or regions.
16:14Terima kasih.
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