PetroSaudi chairman Prince Turki al-Saud will lease two Boeing 747s to bring Malaysians back home from Saudi Arabia after their arrival from crisis-hit Egypt.
PetroSaudi CEO Tarek Obaid said the gesture, made on behalf of the company and the Saudi royal family, demonstrated PetroSaudi’s continued commitment to Malaysia. The prince is a son of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
The oil exploration and production company, owned by the Saudi royal family, is involved in a RM8.7 billion joint venture with government-owned 1 Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), a vehicle for Middle East investments in Malaysia.
The joint venture is expected to focus on global strategic assets in petroleum-related industries, renewable energy and power to lower the cost of energy in Malaysia.
Cash-rich PetroSaudi is also understood to be eyeing direct investments in Malaysia’s rapidly growing Islamic banking sector.
Several thousand Malaysians remain stranded in crisis-hit Egypt despite Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s announcement that the government’s evacuation plan has been successful.
Earlier today, Najib declared the exercise — dubbed “Operation Pyramid” — a success and said the evacuation of 11,700 Malaysians in Egypt will be completed by tomorrow at the latest.
“As of this morning 6,800 of our students are already in Jeddah. Just today, 3,500 will be evacuated via 14 flights,” Najib had told reporters.
“I expect by the end of today we would have completed the exercise, maybe a small number will be evacuated tomorrow. We want all Malaysians, whether students or tourists, to be taken out of Egypt.”
Planes owned by the Royal Malaysian Air Force, AirAsia and MAS have been deployed since early this week for the evacuation exercise.
Egypt has been in turmoil since late last month due to public frustration with corruption, oppression and economic hardship under President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.
It has been reported that at least 140 protesters have been killed in demonstrations across the country especially after pro-Mubarak supporters opened fire on protesters camped in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
The protests are part of the regional uprising inspired by the popular revolt in Tunisia which overthrew President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali last month.
Mubarak has been a major partner in the US-Middle East strategy and Egypt was the first of only two Arab states to have signed a peace treaty with Israel.
In an interview with American channel ABC on Thursday, the long-serving president reiterated that he has no intention of stepping down and stressed that his resignation would bring chaos to Egypt.
Najib has called for an end to the bloodshed in Egypt and emphasised the importance of allowing its people to decide the future of their country.
However, the prime minister fell short of calling for Mubarak’s resignation. - Malaysian Insider
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.