Prime Minister Najib Razak has been grabbing the headlines recently.

First, he visited USA to meet with good friend President Donald Trump in the White House. Then, it was off to the UK to pay Prime Minister Theresa May a visit.

Perhaps buoyed by his increased prominence on the world stage, Najib made a rather interesting claim in Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia on Sept. 28.

Giving a speech on Malaysia's National Farmers and Fishermen Day, he said:

"I want to tell all of you here, that I was the one responsible for getting approval and permission for durian to be exported to China. Today we are able to export durian to China. This has led to many durian entrepreneurs exporting durian to China."

Citing meetings he recently had with Chinese leaders, Najib said that he had sought permission for the King of Fruits to be brought over to the Middle Kingdom.

He referred to a previous visit he made to the sub-district of Chow Kit in Kuala Lumpur, where durians of the "Musang King" variety were sold for RM1 (S$0.32). But now with the increased demand from China, durians were being sold for as much as RM100 (S$32).

[related_story]

Najib added that he met a durian entrepreneur, who informed him at a recent event that he did not have enough supply to meet the high demand.

"This is why it is vital to have a global strategy. We cannot just sell our goods at markets one or two kilometres away from our homes. We must ensure that the global market is a market for all of us."

One wonders if durian fans in Malaysia would be as pleased with this development as Najib is.

But Najib is no stranger to durian diplomacy. During Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's visit to Malaysia, he was served a round of durians by Najib.

The National Farmers and Fisherman Day was first instituted in 1975 by Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak, Malaysia's second Prime Minister and Najib's father.

As the father must have taught the son, it never hurts to have the farmers and fishermen on your side in an election contest.

Here are some equally interesting but totally unrelated articles:

Steven Lim confirms Muay Thai fight real, claims Sylvester Sim urged him to back out

Good-guy MOE once again steps in to assure stressed-out PSLE students plagued by MRT delays

Similar hanging mannequin at *SCAPE was used 3 years ago & nobody complained

Top image from YouTube and PM Najib Razak's Twitter

(H/T to the New Straits Times)