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KUALA LUMPUR: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday had an audience with the King of Malaysia, His Royal Highness Al-Sultan Abdullah, where they both committed to further fortify bilateral ties geared toward the post-pandemic transformation of the two nations.
“It is time for us to really examine those relationships and strengthen those relationships and that, for me, is the most important aspect of this visit that I have made to Kuala Lumpur, to Malaysia… I believe that it is the way for us to refocus our efforts together on mutually beneficial initiatives for our two countries and to see how we can help one another as we face the post-pandemic future,” the Chief Executive said.
For his part, Abdullah pointed out how his country “shares many similarities” with the Philippines who “have faced many of the same challenges but have also achieved much more together.”
“Mutual efforts and understanding are important to increase our close relationship and good cooperation to a new level…I hope Malaysia and the Philippines can increase cooperation and partnership in new and emerging fields such as agriculture, digital economy, and the halal food industry,” the King was quoted as saying by Malaysian state media Bernama.
The President was accorded a State Welcome Ceremony, including a 21-gun salute, upon his arrival at the Istana Negara, also known as the National Palace, earlier Wednesday and was personally welcomed by the King and Queen of Malaysia, as well as Prime Minister Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his wife, Dato' Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
The state welcome was followed by Marcos and Abdullah planting a melinjau tree (Gnetum gnemon) in the palace compound.
“And so, it becomes more and more important for me that these partnerships we will foster on a cultural level and the people-to-people (diplomacy) now continue to be expanded and to gain stature in the way that we promote that relationship between our two countries,” he said.
The President is on a three-day state visit to the neighboring Southeast Asian country following Ibrahim's Manila stop last March.
The Philippines is Malaysia's 15th largest trading partner globally and the 5th largest among the Asean member states, with total trade amounting to RM41.45bil (US$9.42bil) in 2022 — an increase of 20.1 per cent compared to the recorded value in 2021
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Credit belongs to : www.manilatimes.net
