NAJIB, OBAMA BILATERAL TALKS BEFORE NUCLEAR SUMMIT

From Tham Choy Lin

WASHINGTON, April 10 (Bernama) -- Washington is swinging its doors wide open
for Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak who will have a
bilateral meeting with United States President Barack Obama before they join
over 40 other global leaders at the Nuclear Security Summit here.

Fresh from the Asean Summit in Hanoi, Najib arrives Saturday for the two-day
nuclear summit starting Monday and will plunge into a hectic week of
back-to-back engagements, including lunch with US Vice President Joe Biden and
meetings with United States' Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Howard Berman
and several other members of Congress.

Najib will also meet American business captains and fund managers to give
them a first-hand take of Malaysia's recently-launched New Economic Model (NEM)
during his week-long visit that will also take him to New York.

Malaysia's Ambassador to the United States Jamaludin Jarjis said
the reception for Najib was unprecedented for a Malaysian prime minister and
augured well for the improvement of ties between the two countries.

“The prime minister is the only leader from Southeast Asia who will have a
bilateral meeting with President Obama, and the only other Asian country is
China. From what we know, President Obama will have bilateral meetings with
leaders of only nine countries during the time of the summit,” Jamaludin told
the Malaysian media Friday.


Najib and Obama are scheduled to meet face-to-face Monday at the Walter E.
Washington Convention Center, the venue of the nuclear summit called by the
latter to forge a global war against nuclear terrorism and rogue states.

Immediately after the bilateral, Najib will attend a lunch hosted by Vice
President Biden for a small group of guests.

US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg will call on Najib, also on
Monday.

"President Obama's invitation to Malaysia, particularly to the prime
minister, to attend this world summit is something Malaysia can be proud of
because we are not a nuclear state, and it looks like this is a new shift in
relations, not only between America and Malaysia but also between America and
Islamic nations," said Jamaludin.

The Malaysian envoy said there was a "fresh wind of change" in the United
States towards Islamic countries under the Obama administration, and noted that
the American leader had also telephoned Najib last June to discuss the global
economic and financial crisis, among others.


The momentum of relations between the two leaders paved the way for a change
for the better in bilateral ties, said Jamaludin.

The Malaysian side has also received 10 requests for bilateral meetings with
leaders who are also attending the summit.

"We will discuss them with the prime minister after he arrives. He has a
packed programmed here because he is also taking the opportunity to explain to
the US private sector and business organisations Malaysia's New Economic Model
launched recently," said Jamaludin.

After the summit ends on Tuesday evening, Najib and his wife,
Rosmah Mansor, will attend the launch of "Faces of 1Malaysia", a cultural
programme of the Information Communication and Culture Ministry.

During his stay in the US capital, Najib will also meet World Bank president
Robert Zoellick, a former key US official who had served as deputy secretary of
state and trade representative.


Najib is also scheduled to deliver a keynote address at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies where he will speak on the key pillars of
economic cooperation and also share Malaysia's experience in counter-insurgency,
on Wednesday morning.

The prime minister will kick off his investment pitch to America's private
sector on the same afternoon with meetings with the chief executives of Coca
Cola, ConocoPhillips, Intel and Motorola.

This will be followed by a dialogue with executive members of the US-Asean
Business Council and US Chamber of Commerce.

On Thursday, Najib will have a private session with Senator Kit Bond who
heads the US Chamber of Commerce before delivering a keynote address at a trade
and investment summit organised by the chamber.

Najib will have a roundtable with venture capitalists and selected think
tanks the same day and, in the afternoon, he is scheduled to meet Richard
Holbrooke, the US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The prime minister travels to New York Thursday night where more meetings
with business captains and fund managers are planned for the next day before he
wraps up his visit.

-- BERNAMA




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