HANOI: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will discuss bilateral issues with United States President Barack Obama during their meeting in Washington on Monday.The prime minister said the bilateral meeting would be held on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit.
“Although it is a bilateral meeting, I’m prepared to discuss Asean matters if the president raises the matter,” he told reporters after the just-concluded 16th Asean Summit at the National Convention Centre, here.
Najib was scheduled to leave for Washington last night to join 40 world leaders at the two-day summit starting next Monday.
The summit hosted by Obama aims to enhance international cooperation in preventing nuclear terrorism, an extreme threat to global security.
According to a statement from the Foreign Ministry, Najib will make a working visit to Washington DC and New York on April 10-16.
The prime minister was scheduled to attend the Nuclear Security Summit in the US capital on April 12-13, at the invitation of President Barack Obama.
“The prime minister’s participation in the Nuclear Security Summit will also provide an opportunity for Malaysia to exchange views with other countries, including the United States, on critical nuclear security issues as well as provide an international platform for Malaysia to present its stance on nuclear issues,” the statement said.
Najib will be accompanied by his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim and wife Datin Seri Masnah Rais and Tan Sri Rastam Mohd Isa, the Foreign Ministry’s secretary-general.
The Malaysian delegation also includes senior officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, Foreign, Information Communication and Culture, International Trade and Industry and Defence ministries and other relevant agencies as well as business leaders and media representatives.
The statement said that during the visit, Najib was expected to meet other senior US government officials, members of Congress and American business leaders.
He is also slotted to a deliver keynote addresses at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (Csis) and the Trade Investment Summit at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC as well as a luncheon talk at the Asia Society in New York.
Najib will also witness the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and the Stevens Institute of Technology (SIT) and an agreement between Microsoft and Hitech Padu.
In addition, he will officiate at the ‘Faces of Malaysia Showcase’, a special event aimed at promoting Malaysia to the American audience as fostering people-to-people relations between the two countries. The Faces of Malaysia Showcase will be held from April 10 to 11 and April 13.
“The prime minister’s working visit to the US will further enhance the bilateral relations and cooperation between Malaysia and the US. The visit will also elevate Malaysia’s profile through the Faces of Malaysia,” said the statement.
This is the second working visit by Najib to the US since becoming prime minister in April last year, the first being to Washington DC and New York on Sept 22-25 en route to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Trinidad and Tobago. — Bernama