Dato’ Naimun Ashakli Mohammad, Malaysia’s Ambassador to Spain hosted the 52nd National Reception on 29 September 2009 at the Official Residence in Madrid. The reception was attended by some 350 guests consisted mainly of foreign ambassadors and diplomats in Spain, officers from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government agencies, top personalities from the business community, academicians, journalists and other professionals. Also present were MIDA representative from Paris and Malaysia’s Honorary Consul in Barcelona.
This is the first time for such reception to be held at the official residence. The last reception was held in Zaragoza in conjunction with the Zaragoza Expo 2008. The reception was well attended partly due to the Embassy’s effort in projecting Malaysia’s new 1Malaysia image as well as promoting Malaysia as a top business and investment destination in Southeast Asia. Currently, the biggest investor in Malaysia is the Spanish steel manufacturing company, Acerinox, which is investing a total of USD1.5 billion for its stainless steel plant in the Iskandar Development Region in Johor.
Though Spain is one of the European countries most severely affected by the global economic crisis, this has not dampened the Spanish companies from forging economic cooperation with other countries, particularly with those from the Asia Pacific. Hence, the recent reception has provided the platform for the Embassy to further promote Malaysia as a feasible investment destination in the Southeast Asia region.
