Saudi Arabia and Malaysia Set to Strengthen Friendship

SAUDI Arabia’s King Salman Abdul Aziz Al Saud is set to visit Malaysia end of February and his visit is set to strengthen further the already good relations between Kuala Lumpur and Riyadh.

Traditionally, the two countries have always been good friends as both share a common religion – Islam – and also Malaysians go for their annual haj pilgrimage to Mecca.

But other than Islam and the haj, Kuala Lumpur and Riyadh are set to consolidate their partnership further in many other areas such as crude oil, halal, Islamic finance and so many others.

And this is great news because in the end, the one who will benefit the most will be the rakyat.

Malaysia-Saudi Arabia Crude Oil Projects Can Help The Rakyat

One of the many sectors which can really help the rakyat is the crude oil sector.

Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest crude oil producer and Malaysia can learn a lot from its big brother.

Although crude oil prices are very low right now, five years in the future, crude oil prices will definitely go up due to strong demand.

Now is the time for Malaysia to learn all it can from Saudi Arabia on the crude oil industry such as production, marketing, storage, finding new customers and joint exploration at new oil wells in other countries.

Petronas can learn from Saudi Arabia because in the end, Petronas will pay oil royalty to the government and the government will spend it on building new roads, schools and other facilities which will help stimulate the economy and eventually benefit the rakyat.

Saudi Arabia Will Give More Business Contracts to Malaysia

Saudi Arabia which is the focus of haj pilgrims every year is a rapidly growing city.

It has many many projects down the pipe line which includes construction of hotels, water treatment plants, light rail and its train stations, ports and many more.

Our government-owned company Prasarana is owner and operator of the metro rail system between Arafah and Mina to ferry pilgrims during the haj season.

This is a good development for Malaysia as the business contracts will provide jobs for Malaysian companies.

The business contracts will enable Malaysian companies to earn good profit and some of this profit will be shared by the company with its workers by paying the salaries or bonuses.

Our people can earn a good income and provide for their families.

More Malaysians Can Perform The Haj

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak told reporters on January 18 that he would try to discuss with King Salman on the possibility of increasing the haj quota for Malaysia.

This is good development because when more and more Malaysians perform the haj, it will benefit the rakyat as a lot of economic activities will happen.

Firstly, a rakyat who wants to perform the haj will spend on so many things such as go for haj courses and pay the course fee.

He will then buy supplies such as kain ihram, airplane tickets and pay Tabung Haji for the haj expenses.

Tabung Haji can then make some profit and share some of its profits with its account holders and members by paying dividends.

All this activity will help the economy and benefit the rakyat.

Saudi Arabia Can Help With Islamic Banking

Saudi Arabia owns and operates AlRajhi Bank which is the the world’s largest Islamic bank.

The bank already has operations in Malaysia and is still growing which is a good development for Malaysia.

This is because, AlRajhi bank will continue to promote Islamic banking by giving out loans to Muslims and non Muslims customers.

Its loan products and services will be much more attractive than non-Muslim banks as it charge no interests.

This will be good for the economy as more and more businessmen borrow money from AlRajhi and this money is used by the businessmen to do business which will boost the economy.

Al Rajhi bank can also work together with local banks such as Maybank and CIMB to offer loans to businessmen which will help towards the growth of the Malaysian Islamic banking sector and the economy.

Saudi Arabia and Malaysia Can Work Together to Boost The Halal Sector

As Muslim countries, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia can work together on boosting the halal sector.

The halal sector is a fast rising industry and is valued at over US$2 trillion.

Malaysia and Saudi Arabia can help each other to explore new halal markets and work together on advertising and promotion activities.

The halal market is growing and this would mean better income for the sector and its workers and ultimately the rakyat.

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