Malaysia Receives Impressive Support, Recognition In Germany - PM Anwar
BERLIN, March 13 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has received impressive support and recognition from Germany’s leaders and captains of industry with potential investments worth RM45.4 billion (US$9.6 billion).
“We have registered a very impressive support and commitment for Malaysia, not only among political leaders but also from the businesses,” Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said.
On Tuesday, Anwar held a meeting with his German counterpart, Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The two leaders discussed the progress of Malaysia-Germany relations, particularly economic cooperation, education, environment, export of palm oil and sustainability.
They also exchanged views on the humanitarian crisis in Palestine and other global issues of mutual interest. “And the exchanges have been very frank, very fruitful and wide-ranging,” he said at a dinner event with the Malaysian diaspora here Wednesday.
He highlighted that the Malaysian delegation received impressive support from Germany’s captains of industry. “I was told by Tengku Zafrul (Aziz) that it is rare to have an impressive array of CEOs, industry captains in large (numbers) coming to meet us, some were in a group and some (came as) individuals; these exchanges have been extremely useful to us,” said the prime minister.
Potential investment of US$9.6 billion, political stability vital
Malaysia, Anwar said, has drawn potential investments of RM45.4 billion (US$ 9.6 billion) during his visit here. The potential investments are from various industries such as semiconductors, aerospace, medical devices, chemicals, and services.
All these are possible due to the political stability that Malaysia has, Anwar noted, adding that political stability is important to investors.
“People must have confidence that we are staying for years. Political stability is very important for the government to bring the right policy to enable Malaysia to bring in more investments,” said the prime minister.
On Wednesday, more than 35 captains of industry and businesses joined a roundtable meeting with Anwar, who is also the finance minister.
Among those who attended the meeting were the group chief executive officer (CEO) of Siemens AG Roland Busch, CEO of B. Braun GmbH Anna Braun, and the CEO of Melexis, Marc Biron.
Also present were the president of Airbus Asia Pacific, Anand Stanley, the managing director of Volkswagen Group Malaysia, Susanne Lehmann, and Infineon Technologies AG COO Rutger Wijburg.
Representatives from the German Chamber of Commerce, the Malaysia-German Chamber of Commerce, and the German Association for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (BVMW) were also present.
Also present during the meeting were Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan and Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) CEO Wira Arham Abdul Rahman and Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) CEO Mohd Mustafa Abdul Aziz.
There are over 700 German companies based in Malaysia, with the creation of 65,000 jobs.
Germany has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner among European Union member countries since 2000, while Malaysia is the largest trading partner for Germany among ASEAN member states.
In 2023, Malaysia’s total trade with Germany increased by 5.9 per cent to RM63.45 billion (US$13.90 billion) compared to RM59.87 billion (US$13.62 billion) in 2022.
Earlier, Anwar Ibrahim spent the first day of Ramadan (Muslim holy month) meeting up with fellow Muslims in Germany on Wednesday.
Anwar, who arrived on Sunday on an official visit, joined congregants at the Sehitlik Mosque to fulfil his isyak and tarawih prayers and was greeted by the Turkish Ambassador to Germany, Ahmet Başar Şen.
The prime minister also spent some time with the Muslim community here and discussed several issues, including the development of Muslims in Germany and the situation in Gaza.
"The Prime Minister, along with the local Muslim community here, also stated their stand that the suffering of Palestinians needs to be stopped immediately,” a Malaysian diplomat said.
Anwar also presented some donations to the community in conjunction with Ramadan month, along with 12 copies of the Al-Quran - one special edition, one German translation, and 10 English translations - to the management of the mosque.
There are around 5.5 million Muslims in Germany, representing 6.6 per cent of the population and is the second largest religious group in the country.
In a joint media conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Monday, Anwar criticised Western countries for their lack of action against Israel’s cruelty in Gaza.
He said that Israel’s decades-old policies and cruelty towards Palestine were the main causes of the continued conflict.
-- BERNAMA
