KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia should take the opportunities to seek more cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, not only with China but also with other participating countries, a former senior Malaysian diplomat said here on Monday.
Malaysia could use its advantage as a Muslim-majority country and its close ties with countries in areas such as Middle East and South Asia to look for opportunities provided by the Belt and Road Initiative, said Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, Malaysia's ambassador to China from 1998 to 2005, at a seminar on the China-proposed initiative co-organized by Malaysia's Institute of Language and Literature as well as the Han Culture Center of Malaysia.
"It is an opportunity for all the countries to participate to enjoy development with the cooperation with China," said Majid, now the president of the Malaysia-China Friendship Association.
"It is not a process about China and participating countries only but about all countries," he said.
Awang Sariyan, professor of International Islamic University Malaysia, said cultural and people-to-people exchange related to the Belt and Road Initiative should not be neglected when Malaysia and China pursued economic cooperation.
Speakers at the seminar agreed that the Belt and Road Initiative will benefit people of both Malaysia and China as the two countries cooperate on an equal and mutual-beneficial basis.
Proposed in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes. It comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
