ID :
148470
Tue, 11/02/2010 - 19:42
Auther :

AUSTRALIA INVITED TO TAKE PART IN MALAYSIAN PLAN





PUTRAJAYA, Nov 2 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Najib Razak Monday invited
Australia to be a key participant of the plan to transform Malaysia into a
developed high income economy by the year 2020.

Like Australia which weathered the storm of the global financial crisis last
year, Malaysia is emerging slowly from the crisis and seeks to fast track growth
through several programmes, he said.

These include the Government Transformation Programme, the Economic
Transformation Programme, the Tenth Malaysia Plan and the National Key Economic
Areas programme.

"Here, we welcome Australia to be a key participant of our plan to transform the
country into a developed high income economy by the year 2020, Najib said at a
luncheon for Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at Seri Perdana here. His
speech was read out by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Also present was
the Prime Minister's wife, Rosmah Mansor.

Najib said: "I am especially excited that the Economic Transformation Programme
is well underway with the participation of several private companies, some
foreign-based, in projects worth about US$10 billion in the areas of energy,
retail, hospitality and education."

Najib also said he believes Australia and Malaysia can work together to provide
leadership to reclaim the agenda for peace and pragmatism, and marginalise the
extremists, as he suggested during the recent UN General Assembly.

At that UN session, Najib had shared Malaysia's experience in managing issues of
diversity and suggested that moderates of all countries and religions "take back
the centre" to marginalise the extremists.

He suggested that all countries encourage and support initiatives that promote
mutual respect and peaceful co-existence and reject extremists, who divide the
countries with issues that have in the past brought misery and hatred.

On education, Najib said he is confident that Australia will remain the most
popular destination for tertiary education among Malaysians for years to come.

"Your country’s exceptional and extensive vocational education and training
system will help us match the skills needed in our transformation process.

"We are also keen to learn how you balance the curriculum to strive for academic
excellence as well as in the sporting fields," he added.

Najib also said Malaysians have always admired Australia as a great sporting
nation. Australia's "incredible" tally of medals at the recent 2010 Commonwealth
Games was testimony to this.

"Malaysia, however, did not fare too badly either. I am proud to inform you that
our Melbourne-trained cyclists had also won some medals in New Delhi. Who knows
our further collaboration in the area of sport could probably see us joining the
‘Socceroos’ in the Football World Cups in the future; perhaps perform even
better than the ‘All Whites’ across the Tasman," he said.

Meanwhile, Gillard in her speech said that a strong and long standing friendship
with Malaysia, expecially on the economic and educational fronts, was her reason
to choose the country for her first visit to the region.

Regarding Malaysia as the regional education hub, Gillard hoped that more
Australians would pursue study in this country, especially with three Australian
universities having ventured here.

She added that there are now 23,000 Malaysians studying in Australia.
-- BERNAMA

X