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Obama: Najib and I discussed transparency, accountability

KUALA LUMPUR: United States President Barack Obama said he raised issues related to transparency and accountability during his meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the sidelines of the 27th Asean Summit here.

Obama, who met with Najib on Friday, said he had also stressed on the importance of rooting out corruption.

“All of (these issues) are impediments to development and holds countries back, contributing to poverty and stunted growth.

“If countries solve those problems, even if they’re resource poor and land-locked, they will do better. But if they don’t solve the problems, it doesn’t matter that much how much they're blessed by natural resources, size, or geography, they’re going to fail," he told reporters here.

Obama said he had also spoken with Najib on the importance of civil society and the free press in developing nations.

The US, he said, is constantly working with developing countries on efforts to, among others, improve transparency and strengthen rule of law.

“All of this is designed to raise the bar, to have people set their sights a bit higher.

“Some will move forward, some will go backwards but the trajectory’s the same: a world where ordinary people are treated fairly, there is rule of law, governments are accountable, people’s voices are heard, women are treated equally, minorities are not discriminated against.

"Those are profoundly American values but they’re also universal values,” Obama said.

He was responding to a question on whether he had spoken to Najib on corruption allegations surrounding the government's strategic development firm 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

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