Firstly, through this visit he had established a foundation or a
framework with Egpyt, led by President Mohamed Morsi, the first
president to be elected through the democratic process after the Arab
Spring, sparked by prolonged protests by Egyptians at the Tahrir Square,
last year.
Through this visit, Najib also managed to explore potential investment
and business opportunities for Malaysian companies to participate in
Egypt's post Arab-Spring economic development.
His Egyptian counterpart, Prime Minister Dr Hesham Mohamed Qandil has
expressed his country's interest to colloborate with Petroliam Nasional
Bhd (Petronas) through Egypt Petroleum Company to bid for petroleum
exploration projects in the African continent.
Egypt would also like to have a joint venture through one of its
government-linked companies (GLCs) with Proton to assemble cars in the
Land of the Pharaohs.
Najib told Malaysian newsmen at his press conference here, before
departing to Davos, Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum, that
this was the opportune time for Malaysian companies to penetrate the
Egyptian market because the country was in the process of restructuring
its economic development.
He said the Egyptian government also invited Malaysian companies to
invest in its economic zones near Port Said and Suez Canal.
Through the 400km journey by road by Malaysian press to the Rafah
Border Crossing to enter Gaza, Palestine last Tuesday, the writer
managed to witness developments being carried out for economic zones
near the Suez Canal.
Through this visit, Najib also managed to send a message to the
Malaysian community, the majority of whom were students, that the Arab
Spring way by going to the streets to topple a government was not the
way to be practiced in Malaysia.
He said what happened in pre-Arab Spring Egypt under President Hosni
Mubarak's administration, with an unemployment rate of 25 percent, was
not the same as in Malaysia.
Najib said:"I want to be elected through a fair election and not through deceit."
He said the Malaysian government had undertaken some changes or
transformations like the Government Transformation Programme and
Economic Transformation Programme to make Malaysia a much better place
to live in.
Secondly, during the visit and his meeting with Morsi, Najib also
managed to convey his message that it was important for Palestine to
have a unified government comprising Fatah, which occupied the West
Bank, and Hamas in Gaza so that they would be in a better position to
face the Israeli oppressions and aggressions.
Najib said he had asked Egypt to be the broker for the unification of
Fatah and Hamas, and Morsi had set up the schedule for both parties to
sit together to negotiate for a unified Palestine government.
With the help by the Egyptian government, Najib and his entourage
comprising his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Foreign Minister Datuk
Seri Anifah Aman, and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk
Seri Jamil Khir Baharom managed to cross the Egyptian and Palestinian
Rafah border last Tuesday.
The Malaysian media who had crossed the border earlier were anxiously
waiting for Najib's arrival in Gaza and felt relieved when the Prime
Minister came out from a S-Class Mercedes Benz and was welcomed by
Palestinian Gazan Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
The Malaysian reporters were anxious because rumour said that Najib and
his entourage might not enter Gaza due to the protest from the Fatah
group who seemed to misunderstand Najib's intention to visit Gaza, which
was controlled by Hamas.
Najib's bold move to enter Gaza not only made him the first Malaysian
prime minister to set foot in Palestine but also the first non-Arab head
of country to be in Gaza according to Ismail.
However, Najib said in his speech at a meeting with Ismail and the
Palestinian cabinet members that he came to Gaza to be with the
Palestinians and there was no other better way other than to set foot on
the Palestine soil to show Malaysia's solid support on the Palestinian
cause.
He told Malaysian reporters that he visited Gaza because Gaza was the
latest Palestinian settlement that was hit by Israel's army attack in
November last year and its people really needed help compared to those
in the West Bank.
He said his visit to Gaza should not be seen as favouring the Hamas or
he was distancing himself from Fatah but that he would like to see a
stronger unified Palestinian government comprising Hamas and Fatah to
face the Israeli aggression and oppression.
Initially he had wanted to visit both Ramallah in the West Bank and
Gaza but the airway to Ramallah was controlled by Israel that would not
allow those countries which did not have diplomatic ties with it to do
so, he said.
Nevertheless, Najib's visit would likely strike the hearts of Muslim
leaders from other countries to follow his footsteps to see for
themselves what had happened to Palestine and its people as well as the
destruction to non-military targets by Israel.
"This is totally unacceptable against all principles held by the United
Nations. The more the world knows, the more they will support the cause
of the Palestinians," he said during his visit in Gaza.
Surprisingly, Najib's visit to Gaza attracted not only the media from
the Arab World but also the foreign news agencies as well and he might
get his message sent to the other world leaders. -- BERNAMA
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