SHAH ALAM, June 29 — Senior Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali today said that the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government will make sure Selangor’s economic growth will not be disrupted as the state plays an important role in contributing to Malaysia’s economy.

Azmin, who was the former Selangor Mentri Besar (MB) from 2014 to 2018, said the federal government and state government must work together to recover the economy from the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We must put aside politics. I think this is the time where federal and state governments must work together to overcome challenges we faced during the movement control order caused by Covid-19.

"Selangor is a very important state to us and they have been contributing more than 23 per cent to the national GDP (gross domestic products) and we want to ensure that there will be no disruption in terms of development and economic growth in Selangor,” he told reporters after chairing the Selangor state action council meeting at I-City Convention Centre here today.

Azmin, who is also the International Trade and Industry (MITI) minister, and Selangor MB Datuk Seri Amiruddin Shari both attended the first State Action Council meeting of this year along with officials from MITI and the Selangor government.

Amiruddin said the two-and-a-half-hour meeting went well and was confident of the cooperation between the state and federal government in ensuring economic growth for Selangor.

Senior Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali chairs a meeting attend by Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari during the Selangor state action council meeting in Shah Alam June 29, 2020. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

He said the meeting today will make sure that federal infrastructure projects that stalled in the past will be dealt with smoothly.

"I expect professional cooperation from both parties. This is to ensure the development of state and federal government development is well managed.

"Our previous experience when we were not involved with the EPU (Economic Planning Unit), resulted in many federal projects not properly maintained especially in terms of approval.

"Today we discussed 444 projects with 20 of them experiencing delays,” he said.

However, Azmin, who was sacked from PKR following the infamous Sheraton Move in February that resulted in PN taking over the government from Pakatan Harapan, declined to answer any political questions.

When asked about the new development of politics as his former boss Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was again snubbed from being nominated as prime minister by PH, he said that he is not privy to their discussion.

"I am here for this meeting,” he said referring to the State Action Council meeting.

Amiruddin, who replaced Azmin when the latter was appointed to cabinet in May 2018, also declined to comment on the current political situation in the country.