Towards this end, he referred to an agreement with Abu Dhabi: “We’d made a deal with Abu Dhabi in 2015 and under the agreement, we received US$1 billion from IPC (International Petroleum Investment Co.)
“After that, they agreed to repay us US$3.5 billion and this is what they meant by swapping assets with debt and we will be able to get back US$6.5 billion, which is the settlement.”
Najib raised the details above when debating on the mid-term review of the 11th Malaysia Plan in the Dewan Rakyat today, reported Bernama.
“I wanted to work on it after the election. That’s why there is a need for a settlement agreement and they are compelled to repay us.
“We have until 2020, so I am asking Pakatan Harapan to present the settlement agreement to let the people know what this is all about. We have nothing to hide.”
According to reports, 1MDB had made all required payments as part of the settlement with IPIC.
1MDB is required to pay IPIC about US$600 million by December 31, 2017, as part of the agreement reached in April last year after it defaulted on its bonds, causing the Abu Dhabi company to ask a London Court to arbitrate over claims totalling US$6.5 billion.
On another matter, Najib said 1MDB assets such as Bandar Malaysia and the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) should not be “destroyed” as the projects could generate revenues.
“The Finance Minister said the TRX project could be profitable and as such, we should not destroy 1MDB assets if we can profit from them. We have landlease development there, a leading Australian company, HSBC and other investors
“We’d planned a high-speed rail station in Bandar Malaysia so that its value will go up, and when the value of Bandar Malaysia’s assets increases, we can settle 1MDB’s debts. I hope this matter will not be politicised.”
