[UPDATED] Abu Dhabi trip approved by PM, not for fun: Tengku Zafrul

KUALA LUMPUR – His official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was approved by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, said Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz amid backlash over his absence from the cabinet’s inaugural meeting yesterday. 

In a video posted on his social media accounts today, the international trade and industry minister explained that any overseas trip involving cabinet members must first obtain the prime minister’s approval. 

“I went to Abu Dhabi on official business, not for fun. Skipping a cabinet meeting is not like skipping class, where you don’t go if you don’t feel like it.

“Any minister who wishes to travel overseas must first get the prime minister’s approval. If the prime minister doesn’t approve, then you can’t go. 

“This was also why after I was sworn in on Saturday, I immediately went to my ministry to inform the secretary-general and other senior officers about my trip…before I left for Abu Dhabi on Sunday.”

His explanation comes just hours after he uploaded a photo on Instagram explaining the purpose of his trip to UAE, which he noted was to ink a historic agreement between Malaysia and the West Asian country. 

He had said in his earlier post that the signing ceremony between Petronas Abu Dhabi Sdn Bhd and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) was for a cooperation in exploring and evaluating Unconventional Onshore Block 1, covering a concession area of 2,000 sq km in the region of Al Dhafra.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah witnessed the event. Others present included UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Industry and Advanced Technology Minister (also Adnoc managing director and chief executive officer) Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, and Petronas group chief executive officer Datuk Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Kamadjaja Aziz. 

Yesterday, multiple news reports had erroneously claimed that Zafrul had skipped the special cabinet meeting chaired by Anwar to travel to Doha, Qatar on a non-official visit. 

Incidentally, Qatar is currently hosting the 2022 World Cup. 

In his video today, Zafrul said he took note of the “slander and fake news” involving him, despite him just being sworn in as a minister. 

“They claimed that I had skipped the cabinet meeting to watch the World Cup in Qatar. 

“First of all, I went to Abu Dhabi, not Doha, not Qatar. There’s no World Cup in Abu Dhabi.”

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Anwar said he welcomes the historic agreement between Petronas and Adnoc, while expressing his gratitude to the Agong for being the main driving force in ensuring the deal’s success.

“This cooperation is a reflection for us to build stronger international ties and strategic partnership with various nations, while the world recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic and amid the global economic uncertainty.

“I have full confidence that local companies and talents are able to lead and explore ideas and opportunities to compete at the global level.” – The Vibes, December 6, 2022