US SEES M'SIA AS VITAL FORCE TO ENHANCE REGIONAL ECONOMIC GROWTH - STEINBERG

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 (Bernama) -- Besides playing a vital role in key regional
groupings like Asean and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the
United States sees Malaysia as an important force to strengthen economic growth
in South East Asia, says US Deputy Secretary of State.

Describing US-Malaysia bilateral ties as "very important", James B.
Steinberg said: " We see Malaysia as an important partner for the United States
including an important trading partner.

" We've significant investment and strong trade ties here. We value Malaysia
as an open economy and an important force within the region to strengthen
economic growth throughout South East Asia," he told a media conference at the
end of his one-day working visit to Malaysia.

In the morning, Steinberg called on Prime Minister Najib Razak at his office
in Putrajaya.

Steinberg, accompanied by several senior officials from the White House, is
in Malaysia on his second leg of his Asian tour that will take him to China,
South Korea and Japan. Earlier, he was in Vietnam.

Steinberg said the US-Malaysia partnership covered a broad range, adding
both countries were working closely on many issues such as climate change, anti-
piracy and global arm proliferation.

" We also see Malaysia's critical role in key organisations like Asean, OIC
and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) as important and a moderate voice that can be a
good partner for the United States.

" We quite value this bilateral relationship, we believe there is room to
make it even stronger in the future. We appreciate the commitment by the prime
minister (Najib Razak) to build further on that relationship and we welcome to
have and look forward to productive discussions as we go forward," said
Steinberg who also met Foreign Minister Anifah Aman and Defence Minister Dr
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

On his meeting with Najib, Anifah and Zahid, Steinberg said he had a
productive and engaging discussions.

" Our discussions are a reflection of a broad based relationship between the
United States and Malaysia and our mutual interest in broadening and deepening
that relationship.

We are particularly appreciative of the prime minister's interest and
commitment in strengthening US-Malaysia bilateral ties," he said.

Steinberg said US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hilary
Clinton placed great importance in deepening ties with South East Asia and Asean
member states.

" We see the opportunity for building a more productive relationship with
Malaysia which is already a good partner for the United States," he said,
adding that he discussed the state of the global economy with Malaysian leaders.

" Our mutual interest is in maintaining strong global economic growth and
open economies to facilitate growth. We discussed a broad range of issues
including security and political matters," he said.

Steinberg said it was crucial for Washington and Kuala Lumpur to strengthen
trade relation.

" This is an opportunity for us to think of ways to build on economic
relations and on global economic growth.

" I think we've seen some steps by the government here to pursue economic
reforms which we think is very beneficial not only for Malaysia but for the
economy as a whole," he said.

He said the United States was looking forward for further discussions with
the Malaysian government on ways to reinforce two-way trade ties and address
some of the issues that would yield more trade between the two countries.

Asked on the progress of the US-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement (FTA),
Steinberg said: " We did discuss generally on how to strengthen our trade
relations.

" We had a number of discussions not so much specifically about the FTA but
on areas we think if we could reach some understanding about improved trade, for
example, in the area of government procurement which would facilitate broader
trade relations in future.

" Right now our administration is reviewing the overall approach where
bilateral and multilateral trade agreements can fit into our trade strategies.

" What we like to do is continue trade dialogues with Malaysia on some of
the specific issues so that we are ready to make decisions on the right format
to pursue close trade ties.

" We've made some progress on some of the underlying issues," he added.
-- BERNAMA