Whether serving at the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) or at the Ministry of Finance, my main overarching concerns are: After two stints in government, namely at the Defence Ministry (2018-2020) and MITI (2022 until recently) – both having their offices in Kuala…
I would like to congratulate Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia for the publication of its policy brief “From Mine to Magnet: Positioning Malaysia in the Emerging Global Supply Chain”. The authors Qarrem Kassim, Zayana Zaikariah and Fahad Ijlal Nizam have brought together…
Syukurlah kita dapat bertemu di majlis ini bagi meraikan pimpinan yang kita hormati dan sanjungi Tengku Zafrul yang telah memberi sumbangan dan jasa bakti, bukan sahaja kepada MITI tetapi juga kepada negara. Jasamu sepanjang perkhidmatan akan sentiasa dikenang. Izinkan saya bermula dengan serangkap pantun: Tunjuk…
May I welcome you to Kuala Lumpur for the two-day Inaugural ASEAN International Fair of Trade in Services or AIFTIS 2025. This international fair is a collaborative platform and demonstration of our shared commitment to the future of the ASEAN Economic Community. We are honoured…
I refer to the press statement issued jointly by the Members of Parliament for Pandan Dato’ Seri Rafizi Ramli, Wong Chen (Subang Jaya), and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (Setiawangsa). Let me address the misleading views that the three MPs had expressed. In that statement they…
On 29 October when MITI Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz delivered his Ministerial Statement on the Malaysia-United States Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) in Parliament, Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul told the House that MPs would be allowed to raise questions on this issue the next…
The tariff deal Malaysia’s Agreement on Reciprocal Tariff (ART) with the United States is the best we have gotten in this difficult situation to protect our economy and our sovereignty. However, there are those who still oppose the deal. Generally, there are three types of…
Of the many meetings throughout the ASEAN Summit week, the one that I was most proud of was the ASEAN Joint Foreign and Economic Ministers’ (AMM-AEM) Meeting held on 25 October. The last time the foreign and economic ministers of ASEAN sat together for a…
One of the courses I did at the Australian National University in the early 2000s was on contemporary Indonesian politics, and Adam Schwarz’s A Nation In Waiting: Indonesia’s Search For Stability was a part of the compulsory course reading. It was an updated version of…
I would like to thank ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General Satvinder Singh and the ASEAN Secretariat for the report on the outlook of this year and the next. I would also take this opportunity to welcome Timor-Leste for joining the group and be part of this big…