I was at the right place and time to close deal, says Abdul Rahman
SHAH ALAM: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan was “at the right place and time” to help secure Saudi Aramco’s US$7bil (RM30.98bil) investment in the Petronas Pengerang Integrated Complex in Johor.
Abdul Rahman, who is in charge of the Economic Planning Unit, said the multi-billion-ringgit deal had been progressing slowly for two years and he was sent to Saudi Arabia to help close the deal.
“I was sent by the Prime Minister to Riyadh at the end of last year after negotiations became very slow,” he said.
“They were not straightforward at the formal meeting, but during an informal meet outside, they told me that they were worried about Malaysia’s economic situation.”
Abdul Rahman said he was there “at the right place and the right time” and used the opportunity to clear the misunderstanding.
He added that Saudi Aramco’s investment is expected to begin in a year’s time due to having to iron out several aspects of the deal.
“We assume Saudi Aramco will come in at the end of this development. Since the deal was inked, there are several matters, especially regulatory terms, that have to be resolved. They will have to abide by the legal aspect of the agreement.
“We expect them to start investing in a year’s time,” he said after opening the third Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) annual summit here yesterday.
The deal with Saudi Aramco was sealed with Petronas during a weekend visit by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud to Malaysia on Feb 28.
Abdul Rahman also noted that construction at the Pengerang Integrated Complex project was still ongoing.
“The project is now at 60% completion – even without the investment from Saudi Aramco. This is because Petronas has developed the project with its own funds from the beginning,” he said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak recently revealed that the Petronas-Saudi Aramco investment deal was almost wrecked by misinformation about Malaysia’s economy.