‘Guan Eng’s trip to China to find middle ground on lopsided contracts’

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s upcoming trip to China will be a fact-finding expedition, in terms of determining the reasoning behind the apparent lopsidedness of project agreements, believes Rais Hussin.

The Bersatu policy and strategy chief said Putrajaya would seek to find “middle ground” with China on these agreements signed with the previous administration.

"A lot of these agreements are one-sided, so there must be some form of a middle ground. We want to find out why there is a higher interest and some projects were priced higher than similar projects around the world.

"Malaysia and China have been friends for decades, it will be foolhardy not to build stronger understanding between the two countries. As we have mentioned before, we are a business-friendly country," he told Malaysiakini.

Rais also pointed out that China had been victim to unjust agreements in the past, so they would understand other countries not wanting to be in a similar position today.

"It is important that China recognises some of the agreements are really, really one-sided and unjust. It is worth pointing out the East Coast Rail Line (ECRL) project, the supplements made through third party payments to 1MDB, and so on.

"Let us see what really happens. All the things will be included, just like the 13 percent project delivered but 88 percent paid, and various other projects," he said.

Rais was referring to Suria Strategic Energy Resources Sdn Bhd (SSER) being paid 88 percent of the total value of the Multi-Product Pipeline (MPP) and Trans-Sabah Gas Pipeline (TSGP) projects, despite little actual work being carried out.

On June 9, Lim said that the gas pipelines, worth RM9.4 billion in total, would be among the talking points in his maiden trip to China.

Rais stressed that China’s stern action against corruption in their own country should also reflect in its relations with other countries.

"China has a death penalty for corruption but obviously, they must send the same message outside China that they should not tolerate all these kleptomaniac regimes," he said.

'Japan soft loans could save us billions'

Rais also said that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s proposed move to take low-interest loans from Japan, part of Putrajaya’s debt rationalisation plan, would save the country billions of ringgit.

"We will be able to save about RM32 billion to RM33 billion annually. That's a huge amount of money that people can use more productively elsewhere.

"I think Mahathir put in a request with Japan... I think Japan is reassessing it.

“They will see how they can play a role in providing the loans. After all, the interest rate in Japan is really low," he said.

In Mahathir’s first official overseas working trip to Japan last week, he had requested for “yen credit” to ease Malaysia’s debt from his counterpart Shinzo Abe.

"I have explained the financial problem facing Malaysia and towards solving this financial problem, I have requested for yen credit from Japan.

"Abe has agreed that they would study this request," Mahathir had said. -Mkini