ID :
34157
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 20:18
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/34157
The shortlink copeid
SINGAPORE HOPES FOR SMOOTH LEADERSHIP TRANSITION IN MALAYSIA By Zakaria Abdul Wahab
SINGAPORE, Dec 5 (Bernama) -- Singapore hopes there will be a smooth transition of leadership in Malaysia when Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi steps down next March.
"I hope for a smooth transition and for political stability," Singapore's
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said of Malaysia to foreign journalists during a
luncheon dialogue here Friday.
Lee said Malaysia had gone through a number of major political developments
in recent months and he hoped the power transition in Malaysia would go
well.
Abdullah is expected to pass the premiership baton to his deputy, Datuk
Seri
Najib Tun Razak, under an agreement reached within their Umno political party
although the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, of which Umno is a component
member, won the general election early this year.
Lee said he also hoped that Singapore and Malaysia would continue to work
together and improve their relations under Najib.
The dialogue, organised by the Foreign Correspondents Association of
Singapore (FCA), was attended by over 100 foreign journalists based in the
city-state.
When asked whether the Iskandar Malaysia development in Johor was a threat
or an opportunity to Singapore, Lee said "it is a challenge to us."
Lee said that obviously Iskandar Malaysia (a mega infrastructure
development projects) would like to rival or outdo Singapore but the island
republic would be much comfortable working with it "because we feel that
Singapore and Johor (a state in the south of Malaysian Peninsular), together we
can be one big centre of vitality and growth and eventually create one critical
mass and gain a wider range of opportunities and position ourselves for
investors to come in."
The Singapore prime minister said foreign investors could take advantage of
what both Singapore and Johor had to offer.
Lee said there would be more growth to go around and he added that the
competition between the two neighbours "is not Singapore versus Johor, but
Singapore versus Shenzhen or Singapore versus Shanghai or Singapore versus
Mumbai".
But he added that there was always more competition and cooperation in the
national economy.
Lee also touched on the development of the Asean Summit which was postponed
by Thailand, the host for this year's meeting, to March next year due to the
political crisis in Bangkok.
Lee said the postponement was a setback to Asean because Asean's
cooperation was vital to all its members.
He said this cooperation had to press on regardless of the political
developments in any member countries and it should not be held back by any
member just because it was preoccupied by domestic matters.
However, Lee said, the substance of the Asean Summit would proceed because
the Asean foreign ministers would continue to meet and bring the Asean Charter
to effect.
He added that the Asean trade ministers were also arranging to meet and
their agendas included meeting with their dialogue partners to put the final
touches to the free trade agreements which had been concluded and needed to be
decided upon and brought to effect quickly.
Lee reiterated that the summit could not be postponed for too long because
with the current global financial environment affecting all the Asean countries,
its leaders needed to meet their dialogue partners to exchange views and compare
notes and send a clear signal to the world that "Asean is still in business".
He said that was why Singapore had suggested that the summit be held in
January rather than later in March, and if there was a necessity, the summit
could be held in Jakarta, the headquarters of the Asean secretariat, with the
Thais still the host.
-- BERNAMA
"I hope for a smooth transition and for political stability," Singapore's
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said of Malaysia to foreign journalists during a
luncheon dialogue here Friday.
Lee said Malaysia had gone through a number of major political developments
in recent months and he hoped the power transition in Malaysia would go
well.
Abdullah is expected to pass the premiership baton to his deputy, Datuk
Seri
Najib Tun Razak, under an agreement reached within their Umno political party
although the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, of which Umno is a component
member, won the general election early this year.
Lee said he also hoped that Singapore and Malaysia would continue to work
together and improve their relations under Najib.
The dialogue, organised by the Foreign Correspondents Association of
Singapore (FCA), was attended by over 100 foreign journalists based in the
city-state.
When asked whether the Iskandar Malaysia development in Johor was a threat
or an opportunity to Singapore, Lee said "it is a challenge to us."
Lee said that obviously Iskandar Malaysia (a mega infrastructure
development projects) would like to rival or outdo Singapore but the island
republic would be much comfortable working with it "because we feel that
Singapore and Johor (a state in the south of Malaysian Peninsular), together we
can be one big centre of vitality and growth and eventually create one critical
mass and gain a wider range of opportunities and position ourselves for
investors to come in."
The Singapore prime minister said foreign investors could take advantage of
what both Singapore and Johor had to offer.
Lee said there would be more growth to go around and he added that the
competition between the two neighbours "is not Singapore versus Johor, but
Singapore versus Shenzhen or Singapore versus Shanghai or Singapore versus
Mumbai".
But he added that there was always more competition and cooperation in the
national economy.
Lee also touched on the development of the Asean Summit which was postponed
by Thailand, the host for this year's meeting, to March next year due to the
political crisis in Bangkok.
Lee said the postponement was a setback to Asean because Asean's
cooperation was vital to all its members.
He said this cooperation had to press on regardless of the political
developments in any member countries and it should not be held back by any
member just because it was preoccupied by domestic matters.
However, Lee said, the substance of the Asean Summit would proceed because
the Asean foreign ministers would continue to meet and bring the Asean Charter
to effect.
He added that the Asean trade ministers were also arranging to meet and
their agendas included meeting with their dialogue partners to put the final
touches to the free trade agreements which had been concluded and needed to be
decided upon and brought to effect quickly.
Lee reiterated that the summit could not be postponed for too long because
with the current global financial environment affecting all the Asean countries,
its leaders needed to meet their dialogue partners to exchange views and compare
notes and send a clear signal to the world that "Asean is still in business".
He said that was why Singapore had suggested that the summit be held in
January rather than later in March, and if there was a necessity, the summit
could be held in Jakarta, the headquarters of the Asean secretariat, with the
Thais still the host.
-- BERNAMA
