Hisham in Abu Dhabi as IPIC cloud hangs
Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein is on a working visit to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said Hishammuddin is set to hold a bilateral meeting with his UAE counterpart tonight.
The ministry did not provide more details beyond that the discussion will be bilateral cooperation as well as regional and international issues of mutual concern...
Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein is on a working visit to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said Hishammuddin is set to hold a bilateral meeting with his UAE counterpart tonight.
The ministry did not provide more details beyond that the discussion will be on bilateral cooperation as well as regional and international issues of mutual concern.
An elephant in the room remains over the 1MDB’s dispute with the Abu Dhabi-owned International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).
The previous Pakatan Harapan government had in October 2018 challenged an arbitration tribunal consent award which would see Malaysia pay US$5.78 billion (RM23.5 billion) to IPIC and bond trustees.
The award was allegedly negotiated with the permission of then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak in 2017 to cover up fraud in 1MDB involving both Malaysians and UAE officials.
Following Najib’s ouster in the 2018 general election, the Harapan government at the time maintained the award was procured through fraud. The suit was filed in the UK.
However, the Harapan government collapsed in February last year.
In August last year, the Perikatan Nasional Plus successor government was reportedly exploring an out-of-court settlement.
It was recently revealed that the UAE had since early on - before the collapse of the Harapan government - lobbied for Malaysia’s legal challenge in the UK to be dropped.
However, former attorney-general Tommy Thomas said an agreement could not be reached as the gulf between UAE and Malaysia was “huge and unbridgeable”.
The Foreign Ministry said Hishammuddin’s visit to Abu Dhabi was at the invitation of Sheikh Abdullah Zayed Sultan Al Nahyan, who is also UAE’s foreign affairs and international cooperation minister.
It added that the visit was done in full compliance of the standard operating procedures against Covid-19.
Hishammuddin's visit to the UAE was preceded by an initial visit by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah in December last year.
