Former Obama adviser lauds Malaysia's progress

KUALA LUMPUR: Developing countries, especially those in the Muslim world, could well emulate Malaysia's great development progress, and where religious tolerance and racial harmony is evident, said a former security adviser to United States President Barack Obama.

Jeffrey Bader said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's approaches in getting Malaysians to live on the basis of trust, as well as efforts to foster good societal relationships among the various communities, had been effective.

He reckoned that Najib's transformation policies were being implemented in an effective manner and had shown progress.

"We see Malaysia as a success story, from which many countries could study and learn," Bader told reporters here Monday, Sept 26 after a closed-door round-table discussion with Malaysian officials on the US policy towards East Asia and Malaysia under Obama.

On the bid for statehood by the Palestinians at the United Nations, he said Palestinians and Israelis should come to the negotiating table to bring peace to the troubled region.

Bader attended the event organised by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia, in his capacity as visiting scholar at Washington DC-based Brookings Institution, a non-profit public policy organisation. - Bernama