Malaysian PM due tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia arrives in Islamabad on his first official visit on October 2-4, with Pakistan stating that this visit provides an important opportunity to further strengthen Pakistan-Malaysia relations.

“The invitation from Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will see Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers, deputy ministers and senior officials,” announced the Foreign Office.

Pakistan and Malaysia enjoy strong bilateral ties anchored in history, culture and faith. Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim will hold meetings with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.

“The two sides will discuss a wide-ranging agenda to further strengthen Pakistan-Malaysia ties in diverse fields including trade, connectivity, energy, agriculture, halal industry, tourism, cultural exchanges and people-to-people contacts. They will also discuss regional and global developments”, said the Foreign Office.

On the eve of Anwar’s departure, the Malaysian Foreign Office in a statement said that the visit will set to bolster Malaysia-Pakistan ties through strategic discussions on enhancing bilateral cooperation.

The prime minister will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohammad Hasan, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafarul Abdul Aziz, Deputy Transport Minister, Datuk Hasbi Habibollah and Deputy Minister in the PM Department (Religious Affairs) Senator Dr Zulkifi Hasan.

“The meeting of the two prime ministers will provide both to take stock of existing cooperation and discuss initiatives to further strengthen Malaysia-Pakistan bilateral relations following the elevation of bilateral relations to strategic partnership in 2019”.

The Malaysian Foreign Office also stated that there will be signing and exchange of two documents between the two sides during the visit. The first will be an MOU between Malaysia External, Trade, Developments Corporation (MATRADE) and the Trade Authority of Pakistan.

The second will be Letter of Cooperation between Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA). President Asif Ali Zardari said the Malaysian Foreign Office, is also expected to confer on the Prime Minister the highest civilian award, the Nissan-e-Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s High Commissioner in Malaysia, Ahsan Raza Shah told the media in Kuala Lumpur that the visit of the Malaysian prime minister will go a long way in generating momentum to further enhance political and diplomatic relations between the two countries.

“We have very good commercial and trade relations. Our bilateral trade is $1.5 billion a year. But that is not enough. I think it does not commensurate with the level of our political relations and it needs to be enhanced,“ he said.