Malaysia seeks to strengthen its relations with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Prime Minister Dato' Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Abdul Razak said here Tuesday. He said he will look into establishing a special working team to find ways and means to bolster these relations for the benefit of Malaysia and IDB member countries. He also emphasized the importance of the role that Malaysia can play in the area of economic and social development in member countries based on knowledge economy which underpinned Malaysia's development achievements. The prime minister highlighted Malaysia's unique position as a gateway to the large global economies in China, India and the Middle East. He made these remarks during a meeting with Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of the IDB, according to a press release. In particular, he emphasized the importance of exchange of expertise and capacity building in order to enable member countries to convert to economies of scale and benefit from knowledge economy, as well as the need for empowering the private sector and developing economic infrastructures so that they may function in accordance with the best practices in economic and commercial fields. The prime minister stressed the importance of attracting direct investments and urged member countries to take into consideration Malaysia's example in this respect. He said that it is important to give added value to such investments by making the local investment environment conducive to investment and removing impediments that may hamper investment activities. __
