CEO LYC Meets With Malaysian PM, page-4

(Copy and Paste for the SH doesn't have access to FR).. Lynas chief executive Amanda Lacaze met with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad amid an official government review into the rare earths producer's operations in the country."There's a number of important personalities in Malaysian politics and it's important that they all understand the truth and the facts about Lynas," Ms Lacaze told The Australian Financial Review after the company's annual general meeting on Tuesday.Lynas is awaiting the results of a review into its $850 million processing plant in Kuantan, which was expected to be handed to the Energy and Environment Ministry on Tuesday. It may be some weeks until the findings are released to the public.When the review was first flagged in September 2018, Lynas shares dropped 18 per cent in one day, underlining the risk to the company's prospects if its main operations run afoul of the local government.

With Dr Mahathir's shock election win in May, long-time critics of Lynas' operations in Malaysia were thrust to power, requiring the $1.4 billion company to respond to potential government intervention. However, early signals look positive for Lynas, with multiple Malaysian government agencies endorsing the company's compliance with local regulations. Ms Lacaze said that all lobbying efforts had been above board. "To use an Australian analogy," she said, "we play with a straight bat."

Repeating the narrative:...Fuziah Salleh, the member of Parliament for Kuantan and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, has been a leading opponent of Lynas in Malaysia. In an interview with the Financial Review on Tuesday, she said it seemed as though Lynas' lobbying efforts had made a mark.In a meeting of senior Malaysian government officials in early November, Ms Fuziah said she heard the Prime Minister advance arguments that she associated with Lynas."Lynas have been very repetitive in their narrative," she said. "I heard the Prime Minister repeat exactly that."However, Ms Fuziah said the Prime Minister "revised his position" after she raised her concerns about the potential for environmental harm and the safety of Lynas' plant and waste management processes. "The Prime Minister mentioned that we will let the review committee decide."

Wide-ranging campaignAs part of its campaign Lynas also commissioned a series of advertorials highlighting its "Zero Harm" commitment."Our operation has had no adverse effect on the nearby residents of Kuantan or the surrounding villages," said one advertisement."We use media selectively," Ms Lacaze said of Lynas' public relations campaign. "We feel that it's important that we have a voice."Speaking over the phone from Malaysia, Ms Fuziah said, "I think the public can be very easily misled by the way Lynas have been promoting their perspective on the issues."Lynas have been very, very political in their strategies."