US considers hosting Apec summit, Malaysia says ‘not a good idea’

US considers hosting Apec summit, Malaysia says ‘not a good idea’

Saifuddin Abdullah says this was relayed to him by Mike Pompeo.

President Donald Trump listens to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo  at the White House. Pompeo said he wanted the Apec meeting to be held in the US in January. (Tia Dufour/White House/dpa pic)
KUALA LUMPUR:
The United States is considering hosting an Apec summit in the country in January after Chile pulled out, Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said citing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Chile cancelled the Nov 16-17 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit because of violent protests.

Malaysia is the host of the next Apec summit scheduled for end-2020.

“Secretary Pompeo made a call to me while we were in Bangkok asking for Malaysia’s position, because Chile is not able to host Apec this November and that the US is thinking of hosting Apec sometime in January in the US,” Saifuddin told reporters.

“But I have informed the American officials who were in Bangkok that we don’t think it’s a good idea.”

He did not elaborate.

The US embassy in Kuala Lumpur did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Saifuddin was in Bangkok earlier this month for the East Asian Summit and a meeting of the US with Southeast Asian leaders.

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was the highest-ranking official in the US delegation.

Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.