Najib Defends White House Visit

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At a hi-tea function with the Women Journalists Association (Pertama) in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Malaysia would not venture into any investment that does not benefit the country.

Bernama

On his Sept 13 visit to the White House, Najib said the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Khazanah Nasional Bhd would expand their investments in the United States while Malaysia Airlines would purchase more Boeing jets.

The EPF alone is anticipated to invest between US$3bil (RM12.54bil) and US$4bil (RM16.4bil).

 The Star Online reported that Najib said: “When I said I wanted to strengthen the US economy, this doesn’t mean that this is done without taking national interest into consideration.

“This idea is to show that Malaysia is not a supplicant, but we come as a successful country that is recognised globally.”

As for the Boeing purchase, he said the purchase was necessary to make MAS the best international airline in the world.

He hit out at the Opposition for turning it into an issue, saying that Turkish Airlines had made a larger purchase compared to Malaysia.

“They bought 40 Dreamliner planes, but the Opposition chose to harp on our purchase.

 “They shouldn’t resort to myopic views when our intention is to place Malaysia on the international platform,” Najib was quoted as saying.

He added that the visit was historic as he was the first Malaysian premier to have received an invitation from the White House during the US President’s first year in office.


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