Talk on setting up KSCIP 60 percent completed - Asyraf Wajdi

The talks between the Saudi Arabian and Malaysian governments on establishing the King Salman Centre for International Peace (KSCIP) in the country are 60 per cent completed.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said the discussions between the two countries to scrutinise all aspects on the setting up of KSCIP were going smoothly and the centre might begin operations by late June, should everything go well.

"The development on KSCIP, an initiative by the Saudi Arabian monarch, King Salman Abdulaziz Al-Saud during his official visit to Malaysia two months ago, is very positive. The Saudi government has entrusted the defence ministries of both countries to hold the discussions.

"We have also identified the location for the construction of the KSCIP on a 9.7-hectare site at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), which has been generally agreed to by Saudi Arabia," he told reporters after officiating SMK Munshi Abdullah's Parent-Teacher Association Meeting and Outstanding Student Awards Presentation Ceremony here today.

Asyraf Wajdi also said the Saudi government's representative would be coming to Malaysia next week to scrutinise all the discussions pertaining to the centre in detail.

In a joint statement between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia in conjunction with the four-day visit by King Salman to Malaysia on March 1, both countries agreed to set up KSCIP to eradicate narratives issues by radical and extremist parties.

-- BERNAMA