PM Najib's Diplomatic Brinkmanship Globally Recognised - IQI Global Chief Economist

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 (Bernama) – Prime Minister Najib Razak’s working visit to the United States recently has shown his diplomatic brinkmanship and political maturity as a leader of ASEAN, said Shan Saeed, Chief Economist at IQI Global. “Malaysia is on the global investors radar due to various reasons. A growing economy of 5.8 per cent, stable and mature political and democratic system, coupled with solid financial markets and strategic geographical location have continuously made Malaysia an attractive foreign investment destination. “The visit signifies that global leaders like US President Donald Trump appreciates and acknowledges Najib’s leadership of taking the country forward with solid economic and structural reforms to be one of the leading economies and rising stars of ASEAN. “Infrastructure investment globally has become the news obsession for many countries,” Shan told Bernama News Channel when commenting on the prime minister’s recent visit to the US. IQI Global is a leading property and investment company operating and advising clients in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Melbourne, Toronto, Manila and Dubai. Shan said that the world wanted to do business with Malaysia because the country was one of the great economies and a rising star of the ASEAN region. “When you have money in your pockets many (countries) want to do business with you..because you are on the rise. “I think the prime minister has shown remarkable brinkmanship and political maturity and managed the domestic economy well. I give full credit to him,” he said, adding that the economy should be run like a business. Overall, Shan said the Malaysian economy had done pretty well, with the ringgit on the upsurge. He claimed that IQI Global was the first to recognise the fair value of the ringgit against the US dollar, at between 4.14 and 4.30. Being a real estate company and brokerage house, he said “we feel very proud that our valued and sophisticated clients respect and appreciate the views of our marketing intelligence reports. “So these are my thoughts on the prime minister’s visit to the US,” said Shan who also described the trip as very successful despite criticism by some quarters. During his meeting with Trump, the prime minister had announced that the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Khazanah Nasional Bhd were planning to expand their investments in the US and purchase more Boeing jets to help strengthen the US economy. The EPF alone was expected to invest between US$3 billion and US$4 billion. Najib’s working visit to the US from Sept 11-13 was at the invitation of Trump who took office on Jan 20 this year. It was also in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the US and Malaysia. -- BERNAMA