Mahathir to meet Bolkiah on crisis

Mahathir to meet Bolkiah on crisis

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad leaves for Brunei on Thursday for a two-day visit to discuss Asia's economic and financial crisis with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, the Foreign Ministry said.

The official Bernama news agency said late on Monday that the two leaders' meeting would focus on the region's economic problems.

"They will discuss the measures already implemented by the two countries," Bernama quoted Foreign Ministry's Under-Secretary for Southeast Asia Mohamad Arshad Hussain as saying.

Mahathir said after their last meeting in Kuala Lumpur on February 28 that the Sultan of Brunei, one of the world's richest men, planned to help Asian economies pull through the turmoil with strategic investments.

Brunei's rich deposits of oil and natural gas have largely shielded the sultanate from Asia's financial turmoil.

But low world oil prices have squeezed revenues, and its relatively strong currency has made some of its goods less price competitive in regional markets.

The Brunei dollar is pegged to that of Singapore, another country which has weathered the crisis better than most ASEAN members.

Malaysia imposed sweeping currency controls on September 1 to insulate its economy from global instability and shield its ringgit currency from speculators.

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.