Forging relations with all
NO SMALL FEAT: Wisma Putra has delivered as custodian of Malaysia’s foreign policy
LIKE any other year, 2016 saw an influx of country leaders visiting Malaysia as well as a number of visits by our own government leaders. Whether the visits are incoming or outgoing, both types are equally important when placed in the context of international relations.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s visit to China last month, for instance, is a good example of how a high-level visit serves to bolster ties between countries, and allows open discourse between the decision-makers.
Country leaders are not only the final arbiter for their country on issues, they are also enablers of industry — ensuring that matchmaking takes place in the business sphere, and generating interest in areas that may yield significant potential returns.
The same applies to the prime minister’s visit to Germany — his first official visit to the country — in September. Both the prime minister and Chancellor Angela Merkel were eager to step up cooperation in many areas of mutual interests.
The investment between Malaysia and Germany is a two-way street: Genting Bhd has its shipyard in the country while a German company, AWS Schafer, will be investing heavily in Pahang’s Gebeng Industrial Park.
It is always the visits to, or from, the Big Powers that capture headlines and generate much interest within businesses and civil society.
When the prime minister went to the US for the Asean-US Special Leaders’ Summit, or to Russia for the AseanRussia Summit in May, or to the 19th Asean-China Summit in Laos in September, every single aspect of the visit received wide coverage both locally and abroad.
However, for the Foreign Ministry, no less important are those visits that do not receive wide coverage.
The visit of the president of Maldives earlier this year, for example, or of the president of Turkmenistan last month were both given the same level of attention by the ministry, the same level of preparation, and the same level of documentation.
When the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong addressed the nation, he spoke