Keating's visit in KL expected to boost trade

Keating's visit in KL expected to boost trade

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Australian Premier Paul Keating begins a
three-day visit here today expected to smooth almost four years
of testy bilateral ties further soured when he called his
Malaysian counterpart, Mahathir Mohamad, a recalcitrant.

Analysts said yesterday Keating's visit should help boost
business ties and seal a bid by Australia's Transfield
Shipbuilding for a US$1.5 billion contract to build patrol boats
for the Malaysian visit.

Reports in Sydney last month said Kuala Lumpur may announce a
successful bid by Transfield, but Malaysian defense officials
declined to confirm them.

Keating's high-profile visit to Kuala Lumpur is at the
invitation of his Prime Minister Mahathir and is the first by an
Australian premier in 14 years, Malaysian officials said.

It is also the first since Keating had dubbed Mahathir a
"recalcitrant" for refusing to attend the U.S.-initiated Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum summit in Seattle in
November 1993.

"His visit should promote better understanding among
Australians of Malaysia," a Malaysian diplomat said.

The "recalcitrant" remark provoked an almost year-long
diplomatic brawl, with Malaysia threatening to exclude Australian
firms from lucrative public sector contracts and curb imports
until Keating apologized.

Outraged Malaysian cabinet ministers and opposition leaders
had demanded an apology and downgrading of ties.

With annual two-way trade totaling $1.7 billion a year and a
big surplus in Australia's favor at the time, Canberra was eager
to find a settlement.

Mahathir called off the row at a subsequent APEC meeting in
Bogor, Indonesia in November 1994, after Keating said he
regretted his actions, but stopped short of a full apology.

During the visit, Keating is to hold talks with Mahathir, his
deputy Anwar Ibrahim and powerful Economic Adviser to the
Government Daim Zainuddin during his visit.

In a message published in Malaysian newspapers Saturday ahead
of the visit, Keating urged both countries to reassess their
views of each other.

"I have no doubt that Australia needs to see Malaysia in a new
way and that the same is true in the other direction," he said.

Relations between the two countries included "preconceptions
which can impede a clear view of each other," Keating added.
Bilateral ties had suffered even before Keating's outburst.

Australian film makers had riled Malaysia with a movie which
depicted Malaysians massacring Vietnamese boat people, claiming
the event was factual.

The movie, Turtle Beach, was set at the height of the refugee
crisis of the late 1970s. The movie was later withdrawn in April
1992.

In March 1994, Australians again rubbed Malaysia the wrong way
when the Australian media alleged that Malaysian legislators had
accepted bribes from Australian spies, a charge which was
vigorously denied here.

Keating urged Australians to recognize the dynamism of
Malaysia's economy, which has grown by more than eight percent
annually in the last eight years.

In turn, Malaysians should view Australians as having the
economic and technological expertise to complement Malaysia's
development strategy, he said.

Keating leaves for Singapore Wednesday.