Bilateral tie a factor in 1MDB-IPIC settlement

The arbitration settlement between 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) was made to preserve the relationship between Putrajaya and Abu Dhabi.

Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said the government had opted to resolve the issue outside of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) despite having enough evidence to continue to fight in the court.

"The government is looking at the bigger picture, in terms of relationship between Malaysia and Abu Dhabi. The Prime Minister has made the decision for the country," he told reporters after officiating the CIMB Labour Day 2017 celebration here today.

He said although he was involved in the decision to take the case to the LCIA, he, however, was not involved in the negotiation of the settlement.

"The negotiation for the settlement has been made between 1MDB and the Prime Minister''s office," he said.

Meanwhile, Johari said the settlement would not involve taxpayers money as 1MDB would fork out the fund from monetising its investment.

"Let 1MDB monetised their asset. 1MDB has already made an announcement that they will monetise all these US$2.4 billion, let''s see these money back to the country," he added.

-- BERNAMA