ANWAR MEETS PAKISTANI COUNTERPART TO START SECOND DAY OF VISIT

By Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa

ISLAMABAD, Oct 3 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim began the second day of his three-day state visit to Pakistan with a restricted meeting with his Pakistani counterpart, Shehbaz Sharif, at the Pakistan Prime Minister's official residence today.

Anwar and Shehbaz Sharif are expected to discuss various bilateral issues and initiatives to elevate the long-standing diplomatic relations established between the two countries when Malaysia gained independence in 1957.

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The Prime Minister, who is making his first visit to the South Asian country since assuming office in November 2022, arrived at Pakistan Air Force’s Nur Khan Airbase in Rawalpindi at about 8.10 pm (11.10 pm Malaysian time) yesterday.

The meeting with Shehbaz Sharif is expected to last about 15 minutes, before both leaders and their delegations convene a bilateral meeting to discuss a host of issues affecting the interests of both countries.

Among those expected to attend the bilateral meeting are Foreign Minister Datuk Mohamad Hasan, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Malaysian High Commissioner to Pakistan Datuk Mohammad Azhar Mazlan and other senior government officials.

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Anwar and Shehbaz Sharif are also slated to witness the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) and the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) as well as an MoU between the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority on the development of the digital sector.

The two leaders will then launch selected works by renowned Pakistani poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal which were translated into Bahasa Melayu and the MADANI Malaysia book in Urdu.

Kuala Lumpur and Islamabad signed a Strategic Partnership accord in 2019 and the South Asian country has been Malaysia's third-largest export destination in South Asia since 2016.

"The trade value between both countries in 2023 stood at RM6.43 billion, with exports from Malaysia totalling RM4.39 billion while Malaysia's imports from Pakistan were RM2.04 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of RM2.34 billion in Malaysia's favour,” according to the Malaysian High Commission in Pakistan.

The trade value recorded between the two countries for the first seven months of this year was RM5.10 billion.

The two countries also inked the Malaysia-Pakistan Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (MPCEPA) in 2008, covering trade in goods, investments and technical cooperation.

-- BERNAMA