"SCORE is a new initiative that we are just studying now. We had the opportunity to talk to the SCORE authorities, talk to the industrial development bureau and also to the local EPU (Economic Planning Unit) about it." "We are going to take a look at it and describe the programme to US investors," he told reporters after a talk entitled 'The Global Economic Crisis and US and Malaysia Economic Relations' here yesterday. He said the decision of US firms to invest in SCORE was entirely up to them as there were a number of industrial areas that were targeted such as energy related industries, electronics, glass and so on. "My assumption is that if the programme is understood by US investors, there will be some US firms probably expressing their interest to invest in SCORE," he added. SCORE, is one of the five regional development corridors being developed throughout the country. It is a major initiative undertaken to develop the Central Region and transform Sarawak into a developed State by the year 2020. It aims to achieve the goals of accelerating the State's economic growth and development, as well as improving the quality of life for the people of Sarawak. The corridor is located within the Central Region of Sarawak, stretching for 320km along the coast from Tanjung Manis to Similajau and extending into the surrounding areas and the hinterland. SCORE covers an area of 70,709 sq km, with a population of 607,800 people. The major urban centres within the corridor are Sibu, Bintulu, Mukah, Sarikei and Kapit. The industries related are energy resources, particularly hydropower, coal and natural gas found abundantly within the Central Region. Matthews said the Malaysian economy remained on strong footing due to the monetary policy taken by the Central Bank (BNM) to prevent the economy to suffer a setback as experienced by many developed countries. "The Central Bank over time has done an excellent job of preparing Malaysia's economy and turned the financial system into a very robust system. The management of the system is very detailed and effective. The Central Bank's policy across the board have been appropriate especially in the timing and decision of interest rates," he said. He said Malaysia's financial system is in a very good position thanks to the measures implemented by BNM governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz. He also said Dr Zeti has been ranked in Grade A category in the 2009 'Global Finance Magazine Central Bankers Report Cards which was published recently. Earlier, Matthews said as at year to date, Malaysia has attracted RM15 billion of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from the US. He added that US is committed to be the key trading partner for Malaysia. "We are keen to be the key trading partner for Malaysia and continue to be interested to engage further trade liberalisation," he said. When asked about the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Malaysia and the US, he said under the new administration of US President Barack Obama, it is on-going but under internal review by the US. "Currently, the FTA between Malaysia and US is awaiting further announcement," he said. Besides that, he said the US economy is recovering but the pace will be slow and weak. "The recovery is going to be moderate. It is not going to be the go-go days ahead," he said. He pointed out that sales of automobiles in the US have started to pick up in August while the labour market is still weak, which indicated that the economy is smoothening out after the sharp fluctuations. He also said the extent that Malaysia had diversified its exports to other markets has benefited the domestic economy from suffering the plight of a sharp recession as compared with Europe and Japan. He is confident that the US economy will register growth in the fourth quarter of this year although there are a lot of elements that are needed to be put in place. On the Malaysian economy, he said Malaysia has substantial amount of reserves, low level of debts and the two Stimulus Packages implemented by the Malaysian government have enabled the economy to weather any downturn. On the global front, he said economists have been discussing the need to have adequate capital and measures such as setting up reserves in the event that the economy of a particular country is entering a cyclical downturn. He added that the G-20 meeting has become the focal point for businesses and financial institutions to deal with adverse economic situations when the time comes. He also said the there are a trillion and a half of non-performing assets (NPA) that have to be solved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as financial assets prices deteriorated during the economic downturn. He believed that the issue of NPA can be managed as the world economy recovers. In addition, he said the dollar will continue to play a major role in the near to medium term in the financial market although he noticed that some countries have diversified their holding of reserves in other currencies due to the budget deficit in the US. The talk was organised by Sarawak Development Institute (SDI) with the collaboration of the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Amongst those present at the talk were organising chairperson University Technology Mara Sarawak and SDI Board of Director Professor DrAbdul Rahman Deen, Angkatan Zaman Mansang (Azam) chief executive officer Datu Aloysius Dris and Tasik Biru assemblyman Peter Nansian Ngusie. Also present were representatives from the public and private sectors.