22-9-2023 (NEW YORK) Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim revealed on Thursday, September 21, that he has received invitations to visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia in October.
Anwar disclosed that he will embark on a working visit to the UAE from October 5 to 6, followed by attending the inaugural ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit hosted by Saudi Arabia in Riyadh on October 16.
Expressing optimism about the potential for enhanced collaboration, Anwar noted, “UAE and Saudi have much stronger collaboration with us. We hope they will invest more.” He made these remarks while participating in the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where he was representing Malaysia.
During a question and answer session following his keynote address, titled “Regaining Malaysia’s Lead in Asia,” at the Invest Malaysia New York event on Thursday, Anwar highlighted the increasing interest from GCC members in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“We (ASEAN) have growing interest from Saudi, UAE, and Qatar,” he observed.
Earlier, on September 19, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Zambry Abd Kadir announced that total trade between Malaysia and the UAE had risen by 5.7%, from RM11.25 billion to RM11.89 billion, during the period from January to April 2023. This was discussed following a meeting between Dr. Zambry and his UAE counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, held on the sidelines of UNGA.
During a visit to Kuala Lumpur in May, UAE Trade Minister Thani Al Zeyoudi reported that Malaysian investments in the UAE amounted to US$150 million, while UAE investments in Malaysia reached US$220 million.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has emerged as Malaysia’s largest trading partner among West Asian countries, with a total bilateral trade volume of US$10.26 billion recorded between the two nations in 2022, marking a remarkable 159.2% increase from the previous year.
Notably, one of the prominent projects Saudi Arabia has undertaken in Malaysia is the Pengerang Integrated Complex in Johor, facilitated through Saudi Aramco.
