Govt should treat US Treasury officials' visit with caution - economist

The government should treat the presence of US Treasury Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Undersecretary Brian Nelson with certain “warnings” with caution, said leading economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram.

According to Jomo, the real reason behind the presence of the US officials here remains unclear, with no formal announcements made.

“So we (Malaysia) must be careful of the actual reason, but I think we can entertain if he wants to issue a threat or warning.

“What (action) is appropriate, we do. But I don’t think there’s anything reasonable (to do),” he told Malaysiakini today.

“…if he (US) is angry that we are anti-companies (arms suppliers), that involves private individuals and not the government,” said Jomo when met at the launch of “Malaysia’s New Economic Policy in its First Decade”, a book written by Dr Toh Kin Woon, held at independent bookstore Gerak Budaya in Petaling Jaya today.

Jomo said this when asked for comments on Nelson’s remarks that sanctions imposed last December on four Malaysia-based companies accused of aiding Iran’s drone production have been impactful.

Nelson, however, refused to comment on the future worst-case scenario for Malaysia, insisting that his visit together with US Treasury officials was intended to raise awareness over his administration’s concerns.

“Malaysia clearly doesn’t want its financial institutions and its shipping industry to be abused by rogue nations and outside actors.

“We don’t want that because of the central importance of Malaysia, both as a trading nation and as a financial centre, and given America’s significant business presence here,” said Nelson in an interview with Malaysiakini.

‘No law violated’

Meanwhile, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail previously said he had reiterated Malaysia’s stand, during a meeting with the US delegation, to only recognise sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail

“What they presented to us was based on the one-sided information that they have, which required some verification process at our level.

“We emphasised that Malaysia’s policy only recognises the sanctions put forward by the UN Security Council and not sanctions by a single country and the US delegation respects our position,” he said.

Commenting further, Jomo said he believed Malaysia has not contravened international law with the government’s support and recognition of Palestine.

“As far as I know, the government does support Palestine, but it has not done anything that contradicts international law, including the WTO (World Trade Organisation) and so on.

“So I don’t think there is anything to worry about, but it is quite difficult for me to comment because this is something that is not clear to us,” he said.

Nelson and the US delegation were in Malaysia and Singapore on a four-day visit to conduct ongoing discussions with key partners on the importance of a unified global response to critical threats. - Mkini