Pelosi makes historic visit to Parliament, praises M'sia
Nancy Pelosi today made history by being the first speaker of the US House of Representatives to visit Malaysia and Parliament.
In a statement after her visit, Pelosi said she met Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, followed by an inter-parliamentary exchange presided by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun.
"The discussion included...
Nancy Pelosi today made history by being the first speaker of the US House of Representatives to visit Malaysia and Parliament.
In a statement after her visit, Pelosi said she met Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, followed by an inter-parliamentary exchange presided by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun.
"The discussion included security challenges, economic opportunities and governance priorities.
"In each of our meetings, we extended an appreciation for Malaysia's vote at the United Nations on Russia's aggression and their leadership in Asean on repudiating Myanmar for its deadly crackdown on dissent," she said.
On governance, Pelosi said discussions were centred on government integrity, climate change and Covid-19.
"We agreed to continue collaborating on our shared security interests, economic priorities, trade, human trafficking and climate issues," she added.
Pelosi - the third most powerful person in the US government - is on a tour of Asia and will arrive in Taipei tonight. She will then visit South Korea and Japan.
Azhar told reporters that the Malaysian delegation discussed global issues and the palm oil industry with Pelosi.
"(Palm oil) is a controversial issue between the US and Malaysia. We want to find ways for more engagement," he said, adding that Malaysia had nothing to hide.
Azhar revealed that the Malaysian delegation also raised Malaysia's Tier 3 ranking in the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report.
"Today, (the home) minister provided a ministerial explanation (to the Dewan Rakyat) at noon while I had stressed that Malaysia had taken stern action (on human trafficking)," he said.
Learning experience
Azhar claimed that Pelosi's visit was very significant because it allowed both countries to learn from each other.
"In terms of Parliament, we are just starting the culture of having special select committees.
"We hope to learn from the US because they have been using (congressional) committees for a long time," he said.
Earlier today, Hamzah read his ministerial statement to the Dewan Rakyat, despite it not appearing on the Order Paper.
Therein, Hamzah's statement detailed Malaysia's efforts to address human trafficking.
This prompted some opposition MPs to question if Hamzah's ministerial statement was intended to coincide with Pelosi's visit.
The US State Department has produced the TIP report since 2001 as a tool for the US to gather information "to more effectively target assistance programmes".
The Tier 3 status can potentially expose Malaysia to sanctions and penalties, such as limiting Malaysian access to US markets.
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