KL commends Beijing over South China Sea

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BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Malaysia has commended China for its commitment to resolve disputes and overlapping territorial claims in the resource-rich and strategic South China Sea through peaceful negotiations.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the pledge by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang at the ongoing 23rd Asean Summit here not to use force in resolving the matter was welcomed as Kuala Lumpur had always opposed the use of force or threats.

“With China’s commitment, the claimant states should now be committed to resolving matters peacefully through negotiations.

“We need to work on the Code of Conduct as well as the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea for an amicable solution,” he told Malaysian media at the end of day one of the summit here yesterday.

Earlier yesterday, the Chinese Prime Minister had told the summit that Asean should not let the question of the South China Sea affect overall China-Asean relations.

China is now Asean’s biggest trading partner with bilateral trade last year amounting to US$400bil (RM1.27 trillion), nearly six times that of 10 years ago.

In the first half of this year, bilateral trade topped US$210bil (RM670bil), an increase of 12% compared to the corresponding period last year.

Petronas eyes Canada licence

 

AN export licence is the next important step for the Canadian unit of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) to see its C$36 billion (RM111 billion) investment advance further.

Its unit, Pacific Northwest LNG, had in July applied to Canada's National Energy Board (NEB) for a licence to export up to 19.68 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year for 25 years beginning 2019 from its proposed multi-billion dollar export facility in Port Edward, British Columbia.

The filing for the NEB export licence is regarded as "another important step to bring the tremendous opportunity into reality".

"We believe that the successful completion of our project will create long-term, multi-generational benefits for First Nations, northwest British Columbia, the province and the country as a whole.

"While we continue our work to reach a final investment decision in late 2014, we believe that our project has all of the key components of a successful world-class LNG development," said Pacific Northwest president Greg Kist in a statement.

Pacific NorthWest, which is owned through various subsidiaries by Petronas, plans to build three so-called trains, the cooling units where the liquefaction of gas occurs, on Lelu Island in the Port Edward district, south of Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

The site will be used to liquefy and export natural gas produced by Calgary-based Progress Energy Canada, which was bought by Petronas last year in a US$5.5 billion deal.

Since then, Petronas and Malaysia have shown commitment to further invest in the development of LNG in Canada.


Last Saturday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that Petronas will invest C$36 billion over 30 years to build the energy plant that will cover the construction of upstream facilities, including a pipeline leading to the plant.

"I am told that it is the largest foreign direct investment in Canada by any country. This is a significant landmark decision by Petronas following a positive response from the Canadian government," Najib had said during a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was on a visit to Malaysia.

The Petronas takeover of Progress Energy triggered months of hand-wringing in the Harper's government over majority takeovers of Canadian companies by foreign state-owned enterprises.

The Canadian government eventually did approve the deals last year but at the same time introduced new rules that permit such takeovers only in the most exceptional circumstances.

Earlier reports said the proposed LNG facility will comprise an initial development of two LNG trains of about six million tonnes per annum (mtpa) each and a subsequent development of a third train of about six mtpa.

Petronas plans to invest between C$9 billion and C$11 billion to construct the first two liquefication units and C$5 billion on a 750km-long pipeline, to be built by TransCanada Corp, that will supply gas to the two units.

Pacific NorthWest will be supplied with natural gas sourced primarily from Progress Energy Canada's assets in northeast British Columbia.

Petronas, through its subsidiaries, will hold a 90 per cent interest in the project, with Japan Petroleum Exploration Co Ltd holding the rest.

The proposed facility is also expected to create up to 3,500 direct jobs during its construction stage. Once operational, the LNG facility will create 200 to 300 permanent full-time jobs.

We can help with woes over asylum-seekers, Australia told

Malaysia has offered to help handle the influx of asylum-seekers into Australia, many of whom die while at sea or upon reaching Australia in horrible conditions.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak extended the offer during bilateral talks with his Australian counterpart Tony Abbot at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Leaders Summit here yesterday.

“Human trafficking is a big issue,” he said. “Such illegal activities had brought great suffering to those who had paid hefty sums of money to go to other countries,” Najib said.

“These people (asylum-seekers) use rickety and unsafe vessels. The Australian PM and I discussed how to prevent such incidents from occurring,” he told Malaysian reporters here.

He and Abbot also discussed a “reverse Colombo Plan”, whereby students Down Under would be offered places in Malaysian universities, besides experiencing the cultures and lives of Malaysians, and those of other Asean countries.

The Plan (named after the Sri Lankan capital where it started in the 1950s) embodies a concept of collective inter-governmental efforts to strengthen economic and social development of countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Regarding his meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, Najib said his counterpart had expressed support for Malaysia’s bid for a seat as a non-permanent member in the United Nation’s Security Council.

New Zealand was also offering to be in the council but this would not be an issue to Malaysia, Najib said.

“We are representing the Asia-Pacific countries, while New Zealand is part of the other countries that include Turkey and Spain, in the contest for the seat,” he said.

(Source: The Star Online)

Flexibility is key to signing of Pacific trade pact, Najib says at Apec dialogue - Bernama

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today expressed his concern on a few areas in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) at the Apec CEO Summit dialogue in Bali.

He also stressed that "flexibility" would be key to the successful negotiation of the agreement at the dialogue themed Investment in Infrastructure and Human Capital - Investing for Economic Resilience.

“We do have a few areas of great concern because TPP is a different free trade agreement,” said Najib, who was a panel member with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, in response to a question by the moderator, Diane Brady, a senior editor with Bloomberg, about his concerns on the TPPA.

The prime minister said the TPPA goes beyond the normal trade and investment in the free trade agreements that Malaysia has with many countries.

“As you go beyond that, into areas of intellectual properties, investor-state dispute settlement, government procurement, state-owned enterprises, environment and labour, so you impinge on fundamentally the sovereign right of the country to make regulation and policy.

"That is a tricky part and that is why we ask for flexibility,” he said.

Najib had said yesterday that it was unlikely that the TPPA would be concluded by year-end, the scheduled deadline.

The TPPA is a proposed free trade agreement under negotiation by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) member countries – Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, South Korea, The United States and Vietnam. – Bernama, October 7, 2013.

(Source: The Malaysian Insider)

Petronas strengthens Canada-Malaysia ties

Local delights: Najib introducing Harper to the many varieties of local fruits during a luncheon to welcome the Canadian prime minister at Seri Perdana, Putrajaya. — Bernama

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is now the largest foreign direct investor in Canada following the confirmation of Petronas’ C$36bil (RM110bil) liquefied natural gas (LNG) export business project in the country.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak confirmed this after a bilateral meeting with his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper yesterday.

The one-hour closed door meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s office here. Harper arrived here on Friday for a three-day visit.

Najib said Malaysia was pleased with the Canadian government’s approval of Petronas’ earlier investment of C$5bil (RM15.3bil) in Progress Energy Canada, which was a significant investment for Malaysia in Canada.

“We are confident in the policies of the Canadian government and saw a wealth of opportunities in opening up the country’s energy industry to new markets.

“There is a 30-year timeline for the C$36bil investment and Petronas is very positive about this decision,” he told a joint press conference after the meeting.

Progress Energy Canada, formed after Petronas bought over Progress Energy Resources Corp last December, will undertake the project known as Pacific Northwest LNG which has been designed to capitalise on Asia’s growing demand for LNG by tapping into the abundant supply of cheap and land-locked natural gas in Canada.

On the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), Najib said he expected it to take a longer time to be concluded than the initial year-end timeline.

Najib to lead Malaysian delegation to Apec summit

BALI: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will lead a Malaysian delegation to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Lea­ders Summit which begins today.

The meeting has been overshadowed by the absence of US President Barack Obama, who cancelled his trip to the summit and several Southeast-Asian countries including Malaysia, following a partial US government shutdown after a budget row in the Congress.

Obama is represented by Secretary of State John Kerry at Apec 2013.

Najib is expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from several countries, including Australia and New Zealand, and is also slated to attend the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) leaders’ meeting here.

The TPP is being pushed by Obama to create a Asia-Pacific free-trade area covering nearly 40% of the global economic output.

Protests have erupted over fears that it could open domestic markets to foreign competition.

Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin said Obama’s absence would mean several high-level meetings with other economic leaders would be cancelled.

It is understood that Najib will also meet with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono here.

This year’s summit, themed “Towards Resilient Asia-Pacific, Engine of Global Growth” signalled the importance of Asian economies in free trade and investments.

Najib to deliberate on APEC’s three priorities during AELM

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 (Bernama) — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is scheduled to deliberate on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec)’s three priorities during the 21st Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) in Bali, Indonesia, beginning Monday.

A Foreign Ministry statement said Apec 2013′s three priorities are ‘Attaining the Bogor Goals’, ‘Promoting Connectivity’ and ‘Achieving Sustainable Growth with Equity’.

“Apart from exchanging views with other leaders on these issues, the prime minister will also explore new and innovative ideas to further enhance cooperation among Apec economies,” said the statement.

Najib, who will lead the Malaysian delegation to the AELM, will be accompanied by his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainudin and senior officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, Foreign Ministry, International Trade and Industry Ministry and Finance Ministry.

The two-day AELM, to be attended by Heads of Government of the 21 Pacific Rim member economies, will assume a vital role in promoting trade as well as investment in the Asia-Pacific region.

The outcome of the 21st Apec Economic Leaders Meeting will be documented in the Apec Economic Leaders’ Declaration. – BERNAMA

(Source: http://www.theborneopost.com)

Canadian PM accorded welcome

Najib and Harper hold a joint press conference after their meeting at Putrajaya

PUTRAJAYA: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper who is on a three day visit to Malaysia was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Perdana Square Sunday.

Harper was greeted upon arrival by Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at 9.30am, before the national anthems of Malaysia and Canada were played.

Harper then inspected a guard-of-honour mounted by 106 officers and men of the First Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment.

Also present to welcome Harper were Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Chief Secretary to the government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa, and several cabinet ministers.

The two leaders were then ushered to Level Five of the Perdana Putra building here to begin their bilateral meeting, where several memorandums of understanding are expected to be signed, followed by a joint press conference.

Harper arrived in Malaysia on Friday. -Bernama

(Source: The Star Online)

A strong Umno is crucial to success of BN, says Najib

Responsible leader: Najib posing after handing out sacrificial cows to his Pekan constituents. — Bernama

PEKAN: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has called on Umno members to respect and accept with an open heart whatever decisions made by the grassroots regarding the upcoming party polls.

The Umno president said a strong united Umno was crucial to the success of Barisan Nasional in the next general election.

“As the Pekan Umno division chief, it is my responsibility to make sure we are all united. If we have unity, we will be successful in all of our struggles,” said Najib before handing out sacrificial cows to his Pekan constituents here yesterday.

The Prime Minister also said loyalty and making sacrifices were values that should be observed by all in Umno.

“Throughout history, we have been successful in tackling challenges because we were willing to make sacrifices, some even with their lives.

“During the struggle for independence, some people sacrificed their lives but they were not successful because they were in small, disorganised groups,” he said.

Xi: Malaysia-China ties built on mutual help and trust

China's President Xi Jinping speaks during the Malaysia-China Economic Summit.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia and China's strong bilateral ties were built on mutual help given in difficult times and ever more solid political trust, said China's president Xi Jinping.

Stressing that Malaysia was an important stop on his first state trip to Southeast Asia, he thanked the business communities from both nations who had long been committed to enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation.

"Our two countries have proven to be good neighbours, good friends and good partners who go through thick and thin together," he said in his keynote speech at the Malaysia-China Economic Summit at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre here Friday.

Xi added that China would also never forget the strong public support it received from the Malaysian public in the aftermath of the devastating Wenchuan earthquake in 2008.

"It touched our hearts. In 2012, a Malaysian student from Tianjin University saved the life of a seven-year-old Chinese boy by donating his own stem cells. These stories give full expression to the profound friendship between our people," he said.

He noted that Malaysia had been the first Asean country to establish diplomatic ties with China, while Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had chosen China as the first country to visit outside of Asean in 2009.