Malaysia Does Not Condone Unilateral Sanctions But Free Trade - PM Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today that Malaysia does not condone unilateral sanctions but believes that countries should be allowed to pursue free trade regimes to bolster their respective economies and achieve growth.

“We believe in free trade, and there are no restrictions. I assured (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin last night that whatever avenues are being introduced, we will continue,” he said.

Anwar had a bilateral meeting with Putin yesterday, followed by a dinner hosted by the latter. 

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“I mean, we still have good relations with Iran and in most of these (sanctioned) countries, and if the parameters are right in encouraging free trade, we will pursue them. There’s no issue at all,” he said during a question-and-answer session at the 9th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) held in Vladivostok, Russia.

Earlier, he delivered a keynote address entitled “Exploring New Frontiers: The Future of Malaysia-Russia relations”.

As of September 2024, Russia faced over 16,500 international sanctions, primarily from Western countries, including the United States, the European Union, and other allies.

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This includes sanctions on oil and natural gas, access to military technology, imports of gold and diamonds, seaborne crude imports, as well as flights from Russia.

Similarly, Iran has been imposed with numerous sanctions from countries such as the US, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, primarily targeting Iran’s nuclear programme, oil and gas and technology transfers.

Russian companies showing interest in investing in Malaysia

Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said there are “waves of interest” between Malaysian and Russian companies and businesses.

He said the interest in increasing economic cooperation was expressed during meetings with a number of leading Russian companies yesterday and earlier today.

“I have told them (that) we are an independent country. And we want to engage with Russia more effectively. 

“We are inviting delegations representing banks, the aerospace industry and some others to come,” he said, assuring that there will be more positive changes in terms of trade between Malaysia and Russia.

Anwar shared that he was extremely delighted that many of them are coming as early as next month.

“When I asked them ‘when are you coming?’, they said we are planning (soon). Some are saying, we are going next week, and a group will come in October,” he said.

Anwar said Malaysia also received huge investments from the United States, particularly in the digital and energy sectors as well as interest from Germany.

Last month, US-based Amazon Web Services (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc, launched the AWS Asia Pacific (Malaysia) Region with plans to invest about US$6.2 billion (about RM29.2 billion) in Malaysia through 2038.

Anwar is currently in Vladivostok for a two-day working visit to Russia, which ends today.

Last year, Russia was Malaysia’s eighth-largest trading partner among European countries.

Total bilateral trade between Malaysia and Russia increased by 15.6 per cent to RM14.22 billion (US$3.1 billion) in 2023 compared with RM12.3 billion (US$2.79 billion) recorded previously in 2022.

-- BERNAMA