Saifuddin aims for more economic diplomacy
PUTRAJAYA: One question that Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah often gets asked by diplomats is what’s different about New Malaysia compared to the “old” Malaysia.
“I respond by saying that this administration is more comfortable discussing issues of democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law.
“Our palm oil remains the same or the oil and gas is the same. What’s different is how we look at these four issues,” said the country’s top diplomat in a media conference at his office in Wisma Putra in conjunction with Pakatan Harapan’s first year in power.
One of Pakatan government’s biggest successes on the foreign policy front, said Saifuddin, had been to improve Malaysia’s image in the eyes of the world.
Pakatan’s win at the 14th General Election has made Malaysia – a Muslim-majority country with a multi-racial and multi-religious population – a model of democracy, he said.
“Usually, when people talk about Islam and democracy, they see examples such as Indonesia or Tunisia ... we can say now that Malaysia also has experience in this.”
Malaysia under Pakatan, said Saifuddin, would play a more active role in the international arena.
In the past, Malaysia would only be involved in decision-making in international bodies such as the United Nations Security Council.
“We now want to remain active, even when we are not a member of the UN Security Council.
“We will do this by co-sponsoring
the council’s resolutions or showing our support in other platforms,” he said.
An example is when Malaysia decided to co-sponsor a UN resolution to protect journalists’ safety, together with 100 other countries.
The resolution was adopted without a vote during the 39th meeting of the Human Rights Council in September.
Noting the Pakatan administration’s success in boosting ties between Malaysia and China following the change in government, he said the resolution of two important
issues – the East Coast Rail Link and Bandar Malaysia – was a positive sign for bilateral relations.
Malaysia, he said, had also resolved the airspace and maritime border dispute with Singapore, which was a sign of progress.
The airspace dispute was resolved with Singapore’s withdrawal of the Instrument Landing System for Seletar Airport while Malaysia revoked the restricted area above the Pasir Gudang airspace.
The maritime border issue was alleviated when both countries agreed to suspend the implementation of the overlapping port limits off Tanjung Piai and Tuas.
About the negotiations on the price of water sold to Singapore, Saifuddin said both sides now accepted that the issue was on the table.
Moving ahead, Saifuddin said he wanted the country’s diplomats to focus more on promoting and defending Malaysia’s economic interests.
“We have instructed our diplomats that their number one priority should be economic diplomacy.
“We have been doing it all this while, but this will now be number one on our KPI (Key Performance Index),” he said, adding that Wisma Putra also aimed to strengthen its cooperation with the International Trade and Industry Ministry on this matter.
Asked what he would like to achieve, Saifuddin said one of the things he would like to see one day is a Malaysian embassy in Palestine.
“If possible, I would like to open an embassy there tomorrow but there is the issue of logistics – how to get there and deciding which part of Palestine we should set up our embassy.”