Australia Sees Further Growth In Trade, Investments In Malaysia -- Envoy

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13 (Bernama) -- Australia expects the bilateral trade and investments in Malaysia to increase further from the current A$30 billion, as reforms put in place by the new government will continue to make the country an attractive investment destination, said Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia, Andrew Goledzinowski. "The new Malaysia under Pakatan Harapan, particularly the Malaysia that is being developed through the reforms which is being brought forward under the advice of the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) will make Malaysia an attractive investment destination," he said. He told reporters this after a meeting with the CEP chaired by former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin at Menara Ilham here Monday. Alongside Goledzinowski, seven other eminent persons from Australia also attended the meeting, namely former Secretary of Finance Jane Halton, former Chairman of Productivity Commission Garry Banks, former Australian Public Service Commissioner Lynelle Briggs, first Secretary Damian Hickey and education experts Bruce Chapman, Wendy Jarvie and Mike Gallagher. Goledzinowski said among the issues covered during the 90-minute meeting were education, health and finance matters. "Instead of discussing specific issues, we also have a dialogue on institutional reforms, which is an important aspect to ensure a transparent government. "For example, Australia had introduced a charter of budget of honesty which allows the public to have a better say on how the promises can be judged, particularly in the lead-up to election,” he said. Australia had created a parliamentary budget office to provide an objective analysis on budget proposed by political parties, so that the promises made by the government or the opposition can be objectively assessed by the public, he added. Goledzinowski also shared on how Australia manages its tertiary education system, particularly financing student loans. "We are able to exchange some experiences on how those two systems work, the benefits and disadvantages of each of them," he said. He also noted that in Australia, the Australian eminent persons (AEP) team is a permanent but non-executive body that provides advices to the government. "Basically, what was discussed today is exchanging experiences as some members of delegation said we had made mistakes and may be the Malaysian (team) can learn from our mistakes and experiences," he said, adding the AEP also hoped to build bridges with the CEP. Going forward, Goledzinowski said the members of the AEP had expressed their interest for follow-up. -- BERNAMA