Foreign dignitaries full of praise for Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR: Defence ministers from several countries were full of praise for Malaysia and 16th Defence Services Asia Exhibition and Conference (DSA) yesterday.
Kazakh Defence and Aerospace Industry Minister Beibut Atamkulov said DSA and the National Security (Natsec) Asia exhibition were a great gathering of technologies and defence equipment from many countries.
“Malaysia is growing as a nation known for exhibitions such as this. With the things and countries we have here (at DSA), this is a fantastic place for us to share knowledge and look for new equipment.”
Brunei’s Second Defence Minister Datu Lailaraja Halbi Mohd Yussof said DSA and Natsec were ideal platforms for interaction among countries and international companies.
This, he said, was important in the context of national and regional security.
Singaporean Defence Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen said bilateral relations between his country and Malaysia, especially in terms of defence and security, was well served by such exhibitions.
“The best thing about this is that everyone involved can sit together and discuss mutual defence needs.
“I had a discussion with Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein today and there were many things that were brought to the table.
“He said he would like to see our countries working even closer together, especially in fighting terrorism in Southeast Asia.”
Hishammuddin received courtesy calls from defence representatives of Brunei, France, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Later, he said the fight against terrorism was topmost on the minds of defence and security representatives and agencies from around the world.
He said Malaysians could take pride in the way the country handled the threat of extremism.
“What we have done has attracted the attention of many countries. They want to do what we have been doing, such as the three-way partnership in the Sulu Sea with Indonesia and the Philippines.”