Malaysian PM And Obama Hold Bilateral Meeting

Ahmad Fuad Yahya NUSA DUA (BALI), Nov 18 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and United States President Barack Obama today held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit, which is sheduled here on Saturday. In his opening statement, Obama said the bilateral meeting would allow both countries to discuss how they could best use the East Asia Summit to ensure shared properity and shared security across the region. He said the relationship between the US and Malaysia was strong, which was seen on issues like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). "I appreciate the extraordinary cooperation that we received ..., we want to be a strong partner with Malaysia," he said. The US President said Najib's leadership had continued to boost Malaysia's economic growth. Meanwhile, Najib in his statement said Malaysia was looking forward to expanding the trade and investment linkages with the TPP. "Hopefully, we can meet the deadline next year. We see great prospect in terms of enhancing trade and investment between our two countries. We look forward to working in other areas as well," he said. The Prime Minister said Malaysia was also very committed to ensuring peace and stability in the area of nuclear non-proliferation and was doing its part in ensuring Malaysia did not become a transit point for illicit goods that could be used for nuclear proliferation. The US, Najib said, was Malaysia's fourth largest trading partner and the largest investor in Malaysia. The bilateral meeting was also attended by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Nancy-Ann DeParle, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon and Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State, Kurt Campbell. The Malaysian delegation, meanwhile, included Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed, Wisma Putra (Foreign Ministry Secretary-GeneralMohd Radzi Abdul Rahman and Malaysian Ambassador to the US Dr Jamaludin Jarjis. -- BERNAMA Malaysia