Malaysia, Brunei discuss economic cooperation

Malaysia, Brunei discuss economic cooperation

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad met yesterday with Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and discussed plans for regional economic cooperation amid fears of a possible exodus of illegal immigrants from badly hit economies.

"Generally we are interested on how we can help each other to get over this problem. Not only in Malaysia but also of the ASEAN region," the 72-year-old premier said.

Without mentioning any particular country Mahathir said there was concern about the influx of people from countries badly hit by the currency crisis.

"We worry about the fall in the currency, which will trigger a lot of problems for all the countries among which of course, is the migration of people from the most affected countries to the other countries," Mahathir said.

Economists warn that Indonesia, which has more than 200 million people, is facing the danger of hyper-inflation and food shortages because of the economic turmoil triggered by currency volatility since mid-1997.

Malaysian marine police have stepped up surveillance along the Malacca Straits and the Straits of Johor following a surge in Indonesians landing here.

Malaysia has become alarmed by an influx of Indonesians landing here, with 3,000 illegal immigrants arrested in a two- week period this month compared to less than 9,000 for the whole of last year.

Twenty-six Indonesian illegal immigrants have been arrested trying to enter Singapore by boat in the past week, police said Wednesday amid fears of more such incidents because of the regional economic crisis.

Mahathir, however, said the discussions with Bolkiah did not generate any specific plans which the two economies would embark on to assist other worst hit ASEAN countries.

"No. No. No. We didn't. We didn't discuss a specific role. We discussed general cooperation between Southeast Asian countries," he said.

Bolkiah who arrived here Friday for a two-day visit, met with Mahathir for 90 minutes to discuss the Asian economic crisis.

Officials said the discussions between the two leaders centered on coordinating efforts to overcome the economic turbulence rocking ASEAN economies.

Malaysia and Brunei are both members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), along with Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Mahathir also said that Bolkiah voiced plans to invest in Malaysia which has been bruised by Asia's financial turmoil.