PUTRAJAYA, Jan 9 ― The Foreign Ministry does not foresee any problems in the bilateral relations between Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following the disclosure of the recorded phone conversation between former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak with a dignitary of that country, said its Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.
He said Wisma Putra had its ways of contacting the relevant parties or taking appropriate action to resolve a matter if an issue arose.
“I do not think there will be a problem.. if there is, we will make contact and provide the information and explanations,” he said when asked if the disclosure of audio recordings by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) yesterday would jeopardise diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Saifuddin was speaking in a press conference held after the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding between Wisma Putra and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in the field of academics, culture and research, here today.
Also present were UiTM Pro-Chancellor Tan Sri Dr Arshad Ayub and Vice-Chancellor Emeritus Professor Datuk Mohd Azraai Kassim.
Saifuddin said Wisma Putra had taken positive action by instructing Malaysian Ambassador to UAE Mohd Tarid Sufian to contact the Foreign Ministry on the matter and provide information if the relevant parties wanted further explanations.
On the collaboration between Wisma Putra and UiTM, Saifuddin said it will boost joint efforts in the areas of public diplomacy, production of multimedia creative products, internship programmes and exchange of research information between the two parties.
Saifuddin said the collaboration was a win-win situation with more opportunities made available to UiTM students to do their practical training and lecturers to participate in immersion programmes in the field of international relations, while Wisma Putra would benefit from diplomat candidates from the university.
“We also have a Diploma Masters programme for our officers who return from postings as it could take up to two to three years before the next posting.
“So we encourage them to do their post-graduate studies on a part-time basis and UiTM could be one place for them to do it or take a short course which is suitable to the needs of Wisma Putra,” he said. ― Bernama
