Zaliha begins official visit to China

KUALA LUMPUR: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories), Dr. Zaliha Mustafa, began her official visit to China yesterday to explore opportunities for smart city collaboration and high investment.

According to the Wilayahku portal, she stated that the official working visit, along with a team from the Federal Territories Department, will last for six days.

“We will visit three major cities there: Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.

“The visit to Hangzhou is a continuation of the cooperation through a Letter of Intent between the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and the Hangzhou Municipal Government, which was signed last April regarding the KL20 project,” she said on Facebook.

Zaliha mentioned that she is scheduled to meet with Mayor Yao Gaoyuan of Hangzhou during a luncheon hosted by Yao to discuss the cooperation opportunities in more detail.

In Shanghai, she noted that the working visit will focus on the potential for ‘twin city’ cooperation between Putrajaya and Shanghai, which has been presented to the cabinet previously.

“The delegation, which also includes the President of the Putrajaya Corporation, will exchange expertise related to the concept of smart cities, as we know that Shanghai is advanced in this aspect.

“Finally, in Shenzhen, our focus will be on cooperation with prominent industry players in technology, such as Huawei.

“Recently, Huawei expressed their intention to invest in Labuan in smart city technology. In addition to Huawei, we will also discuss with other technology conglomerates like Tencent, BYD, and Baidu to create collaborative opportunities with them,” she said.

Zaliha also expressed hope that the visit would proceed smoothly and yield results, attracting more potential companies to invest in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, or Labuan.