SINGAPORE, May 7 – Malaysia has dismissed calls by pro-Palestinian groups and some politicians to remove foreign firms that supply weapons to Israel from government-backed defence exhibitions in Kuala Lumpur.
The relationship of some global defence companies with certain countries is a “business matter that Malaysia will not interfere with”, said Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin on Tuesday.
Malaysia is a “free trade country that gives space to all global industry players to market their products and services in Malaysia”, he said in a statement on Facebook.
Mr Khaled was responding to calls for Lockheed Martin, an American aerospace and defence company, and BAE Systems, a British aerospace and weapons firm, to be barred from the Defence Services Asia and National Security Asia 2024 exhibitions, which run from Monday to Thursday.
Lockheed Martin has supplied F-35 fighter jets to Israel, while BAE Systems supplies parts for the F-35 jets.
