Dutch PM might visit Malaysia next month - Najib

The Malaysia Airlines MH17 tragedy and bilateral relations were two topics brought up by European and Asian leaders in their meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak here.

Najib is among the leaders from 51 countries in the two continents to convene here for the two-day Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) or summit to deliberate on issues of common interest.

"They expressed their condolences on the MH17 tragedy and some have asked about Malaysia's course of action," he told Malaysian reporters here Thursday.

On his meeting with Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Najib said the leader had alluded to the MH17 incident and indicated that he would visit Malaysia early next month before going to Australia to accentuate the urgency of the issue.

"He will highlight this issue when he visits Malaysia and Australia and further draw the international community's attention to it," he said.

Dutch nationals comprised the majority of the passengers on Flight MH17 which was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17 as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 298 people on board.

On his meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Najib said the leader hoped that Malaysia would acknowledge and look to the country for expertise and procurement in the engineering and other fields such as pharmaceuticals.

The Italian premier had also invited Malaysia to participate in the Expo 2015 to be hosted by Milan between May 1 and Oct 31, he said.

Najib said Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius had broached the prospect of sending Malaysians for medical and engineering studies to the country, which had drawn students from the Middle East and India for its competitive costs.

He added that the leader also touched on investment prospects and favouring Lithuania as Malaysia's gateway to Europe.

On his meeting with French President Francois Hollande, Najib said the leader was keen to enhance bilateral relations in economy, trade and defence.

France had also invited Malaysia to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Paris next year, he said.