Malaysia and Cambodia have agreed to accelerate the progress of bilateral cooperation in several crucial sectors through its Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar said there was still much potential in terms of boosting trades and investments between countries.
He said this during a joint press conference with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet at Perdana Putra, Putrajaya on Tuesday (Feb 27).
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Anwar said there was still much potential in terms of boosting trades and investments between countries.
He said this during a joint press conference with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet at Perdana Putra, Putrajaya on Tuesday (Feb 27).
Read more at https://shorturl.at/cjCJO
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Distinguished guests, please be seated.
00:06 Excellency Samdhye Khun Manet, Prime Minister of Cambodia, Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers,
00:13 ladies and gentlemen, it's a great pleasure to welcome you as a friend and continuing
00:20 the great relations that we have had with Samdhye Khun Sen for many decades. And of
00:30 course, we have had very fruitful discussions on a number of issues. And the signing of
00:36 this understanding and agreement between both governors of central banks is meaningful because
00:44 this has been one of our pillars in terms of dealing with the issue or problem with
00:52 our currency. We have had relative success with China, and it's 25% of our total trade
00:59 is in our local currency, with Thailand, about 18%, Indonesia, about 20%. With Cambodia,
01:07 I think using local currencies would of course lessen the burden and the pressure of having
01:13 to be tied only to the US dollar. We have also agreed to accelerate the process of JCBC
01:22 joint committee meeting between both countries earlier than expected. Both foreign ministers
01:29 have been entrusted to fix a date. And following that, of course, the issues like food security,
01:40 collaboration research, investments, halal industry, renewable energy and high-tech
01:48 industries, including AVs and AI, will have to be discussed and explored. Both our customs
01:56 departments will facilitate movement of goods. And we have already started or initiated the
02:04 discussions on MOU by both customs, and will be finalized soon. It would depend on the
02:12 efficiency of both ministries of foreign affairs.
02:17 We have huge potential in terms of boosting trade volume, palm oil, white rice, and the
02:24 trade ministries of both countries will use the joint technical committee platform to
02:29 address these challenges and find solutions, both trade and tourism. Investments have been
02:41 there, but then we should expect more investments into Cambodia and from Cambodia into Malaysia.
02:55 The value of investment by Malaysian companies in Cambodia has exceeded US$3 billion. And
03:01 of course, there's a huge opportunity, and the Prime Minister assured that he will give
03:06 all the attention and support possible.
03:11 Malaysia's interest to be a key player in construction of over 1,000 km of seabed energy
03:16 pipelines facilitating the transmission of renewable energy from Cambodia and Laos to
03:22 Singapore. These are issues, trans-border, trans-national, that can be explored. We have
03:33 expressed our gratitude to you, Prime Minister, and the Cambodian government for assisting
03:42 us in resolving the issue of Malaysian victims due to job scams, syndicate. You are very
03:54 forthcoming and very fast, and I thank both the police and immigration for their attention
04:01 and support.
04:03 We also work together with the Muslim community with your support for whatever training required
04:12 to ensure that we will play a positive and meaningful role in Cambodia.
04:24 We explored the issue of tourism and 47 flights a week from Cambodia to Kuala Lumpur and Kuala
04:34 Lumpur to Cambodia, but then you have suggested and I agreed that we should explore new routes
04:42 to expand this because there's a huge potential in both our countries. We have acknowledged
04:50 the fact that ASEAN has recorded impressive collaboration in a number of fields, but intra-trade
04:58 and investment is certainly profoundly lacking. We have, therefore, a responsibility to ensure
05:06 this would be enhanced so that it would be beneficial to both these countries.
05:11 So again, my dear friend, thank you very much for this visit. I'm pleased with the outcome
05:21 and looking forward for further meetings. We're meeting soon again in the ASEAN-Australia
05:28 meeting in Melbourne.
05:29 Thank you, Prime Ministers.
05:35 Thank you, the Honourable Prime Minister. Now, without further ado, may I invite His
05:41 Excellency the Prime Minister of Cambodia to deliver his statement.
05:48 Thank you once again, Prime Ministers. I would like to thank Your Excellencies for the warmest
05:55 welcome and excellent arrangement extended to me and my delegation during my first official
06:01 visit to Malaysia today. This year marked the 67th anniversary of relationship between
06:09 our two countries, and throughout these years our bonds have grown to new height in terms
06:19 of economic, high-level interactions, people-to-people exchange and strengthened defence tie. I take
06:27 this opportunity to extend our profound appreciations to Malaysia for support and engagement across
06:34 diverse sectors, as well as good care and facilitation provided to Cambodian workers
06:39 residing in Malaysia. In addition, Cambodia always keeps in our hearts the invaluable
06:46 contributions of Malaysian peacekeepers to Cambodia during our peace process in the early
06:53 1990s.
06:54 Prime Minister Anwar's official visit to Cambodia last March and my visit today signifies this
07:01 close cooperation between our two countries. Today, like Prime Minister Anwar has mentioned,
07:08 we have concluded our discussions on a wide range of matters in order to improve our cooperation
07:20 across sectors. In our deliberation, we note that with satisfaction and positive thinking,
07:28 since the official visit of Prime Minister Anwar to Cambodia last March, together we
07:33 charted new course action aimed at fostering shared growth and prosperity. First, on the
07:39 political front, I assure Prime Minister Anwar's continuity of Cambodia's positive and inclusive
07:45 approach towards Muslim communities. Cambodia welcomes Malaysia's decision to host and to
07:53 start discussions on our joint commission for bilateral cooperation, which hopefully
08:00 to take place very soon, before mid of this year, in order to start off the process of
08:10 engagement in other sectors as well.
08:13 Second, on the economic front, our bilateral trade shows promising upward trends and there
08:19 is still untapped potentials. To further bolster economic partnership, we underline a more
08:26 active role of our private sectors in fostering economic collaborations and development initiatives.
08:35 A quick win will be immediate implementation of the two MOUs between our respective private
08:41 sectors to be signed later today. Furthermore, I will address the Cambodia-Malaysia Business
08:48 Forum later today to showcase potential and investment opportunities awaiting Malaysia's
08:56 exploration and expertise. We also welcome the signing of the MOU on cooperations in
09:02 the area of financial innovation and payment services that I have just concluded.
09:07 Moreover, Cambodia invited Malaysia to consider the possibility of establishing a joint trade
09:13 committee, we have discussed on this matter, to explore additional values and inject new
09:19 energies into economic and trade relations. We discussed the deepening of our collaborations
09:26 in the fields of education, training, customs, halal industry, and possibility of expanding
09:32 import of agricultural products in the two countries. Third, recognizing the importance
09:38 of enhanced connectivity, we discussed the possibility of collaboration further in terms
09:45 of tourism and facilitation of additional direct flight like Prime Minister Anwar has
09:52 mentioned, especially for more destinations between our two countries to facilitate the
09:57 visit between our two peoples as well as the tourists from third countries between our
10:02 two countries. Fourth, on the defence and security of cooperation
10:07 for this country, we affirm the commitment to strengthen mil-mil cooperation and sustaining
10:12 collaborations including information exchange and tackle regional challenge posed by online
10:20 scams. On the energy front, Cambodia appreciates Malaysia's
10:25 principled support for facilitating the Laos-Cambodia-Singapore undersea power transmission cable project
10:31 crossing Malaysia's seabed. In addition, Cambodia invited Malaysia to consider participation
10:38 in the Aborasit undersea power transmission cable project between Cambodia, Malaysia,
10:43 and Singapore for regional energy security. In closing, Prime Minister Anwar and I are
10:51 optimistic about the future of relation between our two countries. We all continue to meet
10:57 and consult regularly in a view of elaborating our relationship to new highs. And once again,
11:05 Prime Minister, thank you for your warm hospitalities and a very productive discussion today. Thank
11:10 you very much. Thank you, Excellency.
11:14 Ladies and gentlemen, we have now reached the conclusion of our joint press conference.
11:20 Once more, we would like to express our gratitude to His Excellency Hun Manet, Prime Minister
11:25 of Cambodia, and the Honourable Datuk Sri Adwani Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia,
11:31 and to all distinguished guests, announcing the departure of His Excellency, Prime Minister
11:37 of Cambodia, and the Honourable Prime Minister of Malaysia.
11:40 Thank you.
11:47 (Applause.)
11:48 (END)
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