Tazeen Akhtar
Pakistan is all set to welcome Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim of brotherly country Malaysia who is visiting from 2 to 5 Oct At the invitation of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif. Both leaders last met on the sidelines of the Special Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh on 29 April 2024. The two leaders spoken twice on telephone, on March 4, 2024 when the Prime Minister took office as well as on April 10, 2024 on Eid ul Fitr.DPM/FM Pakistan, Ishaq Dar and Foreign Minister of Malaysia Dato Seri Utama Haji Mohamad Bin Haji Hasan also met on the sidelines of the Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at same place, same time.The two FMs met on the margins of the Meeting of the D-8 CFM held in Istanbul, Türkiye in June this year. They also met on the sidelines of Extraordinary Meeting of the Executive Committee of the OIC on 08 Aug 2024.Another high level contact was the meeting between Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and Caretaker PM Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar in November 2023, at the sidelines of the Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit in Riyadh. The then Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Malaysia 5 years ago On the invitation of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.At the Joint Commission level , in March 2023, Malaysia and Pakistan convened the 2nd Bilateral Consultations at the Deputy Secretary-General’s level of the Foreign Ministry. Both sides discussed wide ranging topics, among others, from political and security,cooperation in trade and investment, science and technology, health, tourism, and cultural exchanges.Both sides co-hosted the 14th Meeting of Pakistan-Malaysia Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation (JCDC) in November 2023 in Islamabad. During this meeting, His Excellency Datuk Seri Isham Ishak, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Defence, led the Malaysian delegation. This visit underscored the strategic alliance and shared commitment between the two nations to further enhance security ties.The Malaysian delegation also visited Defence Industrial Complexes at Wah & Taxila and National Aerospace Science & Technology Park (NASTP) in Rawalpindi. Talks were held in a most cordial and congenial environment.On 20 May 2024, Chief of Royal Malaysian Navy Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Rahman bin Ayub visited Naval Headquarters Islamabad. Chief of Navy Admiral Naveed Ashraf and the visiting dignitary discussed issues of mutual interest and bilateral naval cooperation. On 12 Aug 2023, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi called-on Naval Leadership of Royal Malaysian Navy during an official visit to Malaysia.Malaysian Prime Minister has commendable knowledge of art and literature. He has read Allama Iqbal and he is admirer of national poet of Pakistan.Pakistan and Malaysia are transforming their strong political ties anchored in history, culture and faith into meaningful economic cooperation and strategic partnership that is highly promising for both sides.Prime Minister Malaysia will be accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising Ministers, Deputy Ministers and senior officials. Therefore this visit provides an important opportunity to further strengthen Pakistan-Malaysia relations.Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim will hold meetings with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, President Asif Ali Zardari during his visit. 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.The leaders of both sides attache great importance to historical ties between Pakistan and Malaysia, especially in the field of education, science and technology and trade and undertook to further enhance the cooperation in the future.The High Commissioner of Malaysia, Mohammad Azhar Mazlan has been active for last many months for the preparations of the visit of his Prime Minister to Pakistan. No doubt , the visit of President or Prime Minister is culmination of the service career of any Ambassador. The High Commissioner , in his article in Jan 2024 and most recent in a press interaction in Sep 2024 apprised the Pakistani readers and journalists about the whole gambit of bilateral cooperation and prospects of way forward.Malaysia-Pakistan annual bilateral trade volume has surpassed USD 1.8 billion. Malaysian High Commissioner is hopeful that still there is immense potential for growth. He emphasizes that both countries should put efforts to increase the figure through new trade and investment initiatives.Pakistan is one of the recipient countries for the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP) that is meant for capacity building and human development. More than 5,000 Pakistani students currently enrolled in Malaysian public and private higher education institutions.Malaysian state airline Batik Air is operating direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Karachi and Lahore. Tourism is another promising sector where both sides can enhance cooperation including B2B and P2P contacts development.Malaysia’s exports in the halal industry are USD 7.65 billion. Pakistan is active to secure its share in this sector since last few years but still lagging behind with no big success. Malaysia is ready to share her experiences in this regard. Pakistan can benefit from the agriculture expertise of Malaysia to ensure food security. Pakistan imports a large portion of Palm Oil from Malaysia. Both countries can forge joint ventures in this industry.Malaysia is the gateway to ASEAN region that is 5th largest economy globally, poised to move up to the 4th spot by 2050. In 2022, the total trade between ASEAN and Pakistan was USD 11 billion. With Malaysian cooperation in ASEAN, this trade can increase to USD 20 billion by 2030.The leaders of both countries have already reviewed the broad range of relations with a special focus on enhancing trade and investment ties. The two sides had decided to study the markets and take full advantage of the opportunities offered in various sectors for tangible economic outcomes.Finally , now when the top leaders are about to meet again, it is expected that the understanding developed in previous engagements will open a new chapter in bilateral trade, investments and joint ventures in all potential areas.(The writer is MSc in Mass Communication.He is an expert in Political Science. He is contributing on Pakistan’s relations with International community since long. He can be reached at tazeen303@gmail.com.)
