MALAYSIAN KING PLEASED WITH STRONG MALAYSIA-KOREA TIES

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 (Bernama) -- Malaysian King Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin
Friday night expressed satisfaction with the fast development in various fields
involving cooperation between Malaysia and the Republic of Korea after 50 years
of diplomatic relations.

He said the complementary relationship was clearly capable of increasing trade
and investment which would expand and create a variety of national economic
policies.

"Thirty years ago, Malaysia realised Korea's potential in development, and now
the country has indeed proven to be among the economic powers in East Asia,"
said Tuanku Mizan at a National Dinner Function to celebrate Korean President
Lee Myung-Bak's two-day visit to Malaysia at the Istana Negara (National
Palace)here.

He added that the increasing number of Korean investors in Malaysia had given
recognition to Malaysia as an important place among Asean countries, as well as
being strategic geographically.

"Malaysia is ever ready to become share partners with Korea in specific fields
and I believe our bilateral relations are ready to enter a new phase for a more
active cooperation at the international level," he said.

Besides that, Tuanku Mizan said he was happy with the recent venture between
Malaysian and Korean companies in exploring oil and gas in third world
countries.

"This is a good move and should be emulated by other industries in both
countries," he added.

Tuanku Mizan said he was also pleased with the participation of Korean companies
in national development projects, especially those such as the Penang Bridge and
construction of one of the Petronas Twin Towers.

"I like seeing that more Korean companies are actively involved in our projects,
whether in the field of technology, oil and gas sector or solar.

"I hope both countries will be able to strengthen cooperation in the future for
other ventures such as green technology, Islamic finance and banking,
nano-technology and biotechnology," he said.

Tuanku Mizan said Malaysia was awed by Korea's success as a powerful industry
player in a variety of fields from ship building to electronics, and was
currently moving towards green technology, whereby, they were almost on par with
other OECD and G20 countries.

Besides that, he said Malaysia's Look East policy launched in 1982 was an
initiative for Korea and other Asian economic powers to share the experiences
they went through.

"Malaysia will continue this policy and I hope our students and civil servants
will emulate Korean work ethics and values.

"This policy will also encourage the participation of Korean companies which
have the technical and technological advancements to implement development
projects in Malaysia," he said.

Tuanku Mizan also described the Korean president's visit to Malaysia as
important and historic for Malaysia and the Republic of Korea, in conjunction
with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between both countries.

"I hope this visit will further strengthen our bilateral ties," he said.

Meanwhile, Lee in his speech described the 50-year diplomatic relationship
between both countries had achieved much in many areas, and most of the
achievements surpassed what they targeted.

"This year, our bilateral trade stands at USD16 billion, surpassing our previous
record, and mutual investment is expected to exceed our target, as well," he
said.

He said people-to-people exchange, which was a hallmark of the closeness of
relations, as well as the foundation from which longterm friendship could
flourish, would continue to grow.

"This year alone, South Korea expects more than 300,000 to visit each other," he
added.

Lee believed the Malaysia-Korea relationship had expanded to include, not only
economic cooperation but culture, people-to-people exchange and cooperation in
education.

"We are learning a lot from Malaysia's global competitiveness and confident that
based on mutual respect, friendship and a common vision for peace and
prosperity, Korea and Malaysia will become even closer," he added.
-- BERNAMA