PUTRAJAYA, May 4 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim stressed that Malaysia adopts a balanced approach in economic diplomacy, prioritising national interests, including energy security.

He said trade negotiations with strategic partners such as Australia are conducted on a reciprocal basis, taking into account Malaysia’s need to import raw materials such as phosphate for fertiliser production, while exporting urea.

“We import phosphate, we export urea… that is why in my discussions with the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, who was here two weeks ago, he asked for urea and I said that is possible provided he supplies phosphate.

“He (Albanese) asked for oil, and I said if we have a surplus we can supply it, but if we do not, we cannot — despite claims out there asking how Anwar sold oil to the Philippines; when did we sell oil to the Philippines?” he said when addressing the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability’s monthly assembly here today.

As such, he called on all parties to provide accurate facts, as this is a matter of national security and should not be treated as a political issue.

Anwar said Malaysia will continue to strengthen economic cooperation with key trading partners, including China and the United States, despite differences in views on geopolitical issues.

“The United States remains Malaysia’s number one trading partner and investor. Do we agree with its foreign policy? No. Do we agree with its actions in attacking Iran? No. Do we agree with it allowing the killing of children and women in Gaza? No.

“So we continue to uphold the independence I refer to as Asean centrality. We speak up because we are an independent and sovereign nation,” he said.

At the same time, he stressed that Malaysia will not compromise on key national policies, including those related to Bumiputera interests, in any trade negotiations.

“We can trade, but we will not allow others to dictate our policies. If we dismantle or overhaul these policies, it could create domestic political tensions that we cannot control. So there are limits,” he said.

He also stressed the need to maintain a pragmatic approach in international relations to ensure foreign investment flows are not disrupted.

“If we confront everything, new investments will be affected,” he said.

In a related development, he said Malaysia still has strengths in high-value sectors such as electrical and electronics (E&E) and artificial intelligence (AI), which continue to attract global investors.

He added that multinational companies such as Intel and Amazon Web Services continue to expand their investments in the country.

“This means that while we face challenges in some areas, we are still benefiting from others,” he said. — Bernama 

HANOI, May 3 — Vietnam's consumer prices rose 5.46 per cent in April from the ‌same month last year, government data showed today, accelerating from 4.65 per cent in March, fuelled by higher energy costs due ‌to the Iran war.

The quickening of inflation was "due to higher domestic gas prices in accordance with global fuel prices," the National Statistics Office said in a report, adding rising material and transport costs also pushed up prices for services and construction.

April industrial production rose 9.9 per cent from a year earlier, higher than March's 4.6 per cent year-on-year expansion.

April exports ‌rose 21 per cent on year to US$45.52 billion, while imports ⁠rose 32.5 per cent to US$48.8 billion, ⁠the stats office said.

April's ⁠trade deficit widened to US$3.28 billion ⁠from US$677 million in ⁠March.

For the first four months of the year, exports rose 19.7 per cent to US$168.5 billion while imports ⁠increased 28.7 per cent to US$175.64 billion, creating a trade deficit of US$7.1 billion.

Foreign investment inflows in the first four months of this year rose 9.8 per cent to US$7.4 billion.

Public investment disbursement in the four-month period rose 16.4 per cent ⁠year-on-year to US$5.8 billion, accounting for 13.7 per cent of the government's full-year plan.

For the four months, Vietnam's ⁠trade surplus with the U.S. rose 24.4 per cent on year to US$46.9 ⁠billion, ⁠while the deficit with China expanded 33.4 per cent to US$46.4 billion.

Vietnam's Finance Ministry forecast inflation could reach 5.5 per cent this year, ‌above the government's 4.5 per cent target, driven mostly by the impact of the Iran war. — Reuters