Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Najib of Malaysia before Bilateral Meeting

Grand Hyatt
Bali, Indonesia

12:04 P.M. WITA

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, I just want to say how much of a pleasure it is to be able to see, once again, Prime Minister Najib.  We just had excellent conversations and consultations at the APEC conference that we hosted in Honolulu.  This allows us to expand discussions not only on our bilateral relationship, which is strong, and the cooperation that we've seen on issues like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but it also allows us to discuss how we can best use the East Asia Summit to assure shared prosperity and shared security across the region.

And so I appreciate the extraordinary cooperation that we've received on a whole range of issues.  We want to be a strong partner with Malaysia, and Prime Minister Najib, I think, has shown great leadership not only in continuing to boost Malaysia's economy, but also in showing leadership on a wide range of multilateral fora.

So thank you very much, Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER NAJIB:  Thank you very much, Mr. President, for your very encouraging words.  We believe we have a very, very productive relationship between our two countries.  Before this, they've been very strong in the areas of trade and investment.  The United States is our fourth-largest trading partner.  On a comparative basis, you're still the largest investor in Malaysia. We certainly look forward to expanding trade and investment linkages.  And with the TPP, hopefully we can meet the deadline next year.  We see great prospects in terms of enhancing trade investment between our two countries.  And certainly we look forward to working in other areas concerned.

We are very committed to ensuring peace and stability.  We're working with you in the area of nuclear nonproliferation.  We're doing our part to make sure that Malaysia is not a transit point for illicit goods that can be used for nuclear proliferation.  Working towards helping you in Afghanistan.  And we're looking at new areas of cooperation — including receiving 50 English teachers from the United States.  They are coming in January.

So I'm excited about the prospects, and I look forward to deepening, strengthening, enhancing our bilateral ties.  And I thank you for your leadership in this.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Thank you. 

Thank you, everybody.

END
12:07 P.M. WITA