September 26, 2005
Remarks from Congressman Gregory W. Meeks
Asia Foundation, John Hopkins University-SAIS Colloquium
Carnegie Endowment 1779 Mass. Ave.,
Washington, DC
Tuesday, September 26, 2005
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is great to be here with you all today. I want to thank the Asia Foundation, Johns Hopkins-SAIS and ISIS for allowing me to participate in this very important forum.
I also want to thank all of our friends from Malaysia for joining us and I wish you a warm welcome to Washington. Hopefully, if my schedule permits I can return such a visit to Malaysia before the end of the year.
I know that Malaysia is hosting Asia's first ever East Asia Summit in December. Given that Asia has become one of the world's most important regions, particularly as an engine of growth for the global economy, I hope that myself and other Members of Congress may visit Malaysia in order to better understand and to encourage these new developments in Asia.
This is exactly why I wanted to be here today. I can't think of a more valuable theme than, Promoting Understanding and Cooperation between out two nations. Clearly, for many of my colleagues on the democratic side of aisle, we recognize that, now more then ever, our nation and our world needs to improve our understanding of each other in order to ensure that we live prosperous lives on this earth.
As co-chairman of the bi-partisan Malaysia Trade, Security and Economic Cooperation Caucus in the Congress, my good friend Pete Sessions - the Congressman from Texas - and I have worked with Ambassador Ghazzali and his staff and other members of Congress to elevate Malaysia's profile and strategic position in the U.S. Congress. We would like for Malaysia's stature, as our 10th largest trading partner in the world with two-way trade approaching $40 billion per year, to be fully recognized.
We are making progress on this agenda at a very important time for America, a time when America "needs" friends in the world. We need friends who are not only willing to be part of US coalitions, but also friends who believe in expanding global trade for the purpose of creating opportunities for many while reducing conditions of poverty which so many in the world still live in.
We need friends who command respect and credibility from nations in all parts of the world. We need friends who will speak honestly, candidly and diplomatically.
It is in these contexts where Rep. Sessions, who I know wishes he could be here, and I strongly believe that Malaysia has emerged at the very top of the list.
In the Congress, I serve on both the Banking and Financial Services Committee and the International Relations Committee. On the international relations committee, there is an increasing recognition of the importance of our relationship with Malaysia. Though it is not discussed often in the press, Members of Congress understands the partnerships between out two countries.
In addition, the Members appreciate that Malaysia has chosen to host and fund the launching of the Southeast Asia Regional Counter-Terrorism Training Center under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On a more personal level but equally as important, I have discussed projects such as the South-South Cooperation, particularly in Africa, with my colleagues via their Smart-Partnership policy initiative.
I often find it odd that while U.S. trade and investment in Africa tends to be concentrated in oil and mining, Malaysia's private sector has invested not only in those sectors but also in telecommunications, urban infrastructure, and housing sectors. Perhaps our business community may learn how your businesses are able to locate those investment opportunities?
On the Banking Committee, many are not familiar with Malaysia or who have a misconception about the religious sectors of the nation are surprised when I note that Malaysia is a financial powerhouse. The governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Zeti Aziz, is a woman who is often ranked by her peers as one of the premier central bank governors in the world.
In terms of polices, our committee regularly examines international financial policy issues relating to the IMF and World Bank. I have often noted that when the 1997 financial crisis hit southeast Asia, Malaysia had the resolve to not seek assistance from the IMF and decided to create its own policy prescriptions to confront their financial challenges while maintaining economic growth.
We all know that when Malaysia created carefully structured controls on capital investments of a speculative nature, excluding anything that involved real direct foreign investments, many groups including the IMF, said Malaysia would become an outcast in the global financial community.
Years later, the IMF has admitted that what Malaysia's actions were successful and that the country currency earns sovereign credit ratings by Standard & Poor's on (foreign currency A- and local currency A+).
Given that I am from New York City, the world's leading financial center, my interests in Malaysia and financial services have not stop at the policy level. These interest directly involve the economic relationships between our two nations.
I am very excited that the Bank of New York, which does business with a number of institutions in Malaysia, opened its first office in Malaysia last week. In addition, Credit Suisse First Boston (CFSB) and UBS Bank opened their new stock brokerage businesses in Malaysia last week. I am also excited that JP Morgan Chase, will open its new stock brokerage business in Malaysia later this year.
These types of new foreign investments strengthen the Malaysian financial services industry and create "world class" capital markets. They will also encourage and sustain a mutually beneficial relationship between my home city and Malaysia.
It is imperative that this type of development continues between New York City and Malaysia particularly in the area of insurance and I know that the New York Life Insurance Company would like to increase business with Malaysia.
As you may see ladies and gentlemen, these are just a few of the lenses in which I look at our bilateral relationship. This relationship is well positioned to encourage our mutual gain in areas ranging from education and technology to improve the quality of life in multi-racial and religious societies.
When I think about our efforts to deepen our understanding of the potential relationships that may exist and expand our cooperation, I hope that we can collectively create some goals and objectives for ourselves. Things are good between us, but that does not mean we should rest. Instead, as Ambassador Ghazzali likes to say, now we have more work to do to bring to fruition the full potential of our relationship. We must ensure that our relationships are not just about our governments or businesses, but must also be about our people to people relationships.
I'll close by noting a couple of things that I believe would represent tangible benchmarks for the future of our relationship.
Thank you again to SAIS, ISIS and the Asia Foundation for allowing me to join you today. To my Malaysian friends, have a safe journey back home.
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