by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Thursday, March 3, 1994:
DAP calls on Malaysian Government to restrain attempts to escalate Malaysia-UK relations into full trade war which would be detrimental to the interests of both countries
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said after the Cabinet meeting yesterday that the private sector companies and educational isntitutions are free to have dealings with Britain despite the Government’s decision to stop awarding contracts to British firms.
This clarification is necessary as there has been confusion in the past week as to whether the Government’s trade sanctions against British companies seeking new government contracts extended to the private sector, especially in services, management, consultancy and education.
The Education Minister, Datuk Dr. Sulaiman Daud had last week advised local firms which intended to take British partners for joint, ventures in education-related projects to look for alternatives.
This was followed the next day by the directive by the Deputy Education Minister, Dr. Pong Chan Onn that all private colleges should look for non-British partners for future twinning programmes and other forms of academic co-operation.
DAP calls on the Malaysian Government to restrain attempts to escalate Malaysia-UK relations into a full trade war which would be detrimental to the interests of both countries.