Anwar Departs Home After Series Of Visits To Strengthen Ties, Boost Trade

From Arul Rajoo Durar Raj

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 7 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim departed home today after a series of official visits to three countries - Italy, France and Brazil.

The chartered flight from Malaysia Airlines carrying the premier and the Malaysian delegation departed the Galeao Air Force Base (BAGL) at 1 pm local time (midnight Monday Malaysian time). 

This series of visits by the Prime Minister, starting with a three-day official visit to Italy, forms part of Malaysia’s ongoing efforts to strengthen bilateral relations and promote economic cooperation at the global level.

The visits to these major economic hubs - Rome, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro - was  to strengthen Malaysia’s diplomatic ties and trade relations with the respective nations.

 These three markets collectively recorded bilateral trade valued at RM50.91 billion (USD11.14 billion) last year.

The Prime Minister was accompanied by a business delegation comprising representatives from major Malaysian corporations and innovative enterprises, including Petronas, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Maybank, FGV, YTL Power, and Sunway.

Anwar’s inaugural visit to Italy was undertaken at the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The visits were to further strengthen bilateral relations between the countries across a wide range of sectors. 

In Rome, the Prime Minister was accompanied by five Cabinet ministers, namely Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, Transport Minister Anthony Loke, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, and Investment, Trade and Industry Minister, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

Deputy Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir was also part of the delegation.

In Paris, the Prime Minister met with President Emmanuel Macron, with discussions focusing on trade, technology and education, as well as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

In addition to a roundtable with France’s industrial giants, the Prime Minister also engaged  with local Muslim leaders, met Malaysian citizens in France, and delivered a public lecture at Sorbonne University on July 4.

After the Paris stopover, Anwar headed to Rio de Janeiro to attend the 17th BRICS Summit upon invitation from President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Malaysia’s role as a BRICS Partner Country and ASEAN Chair for 2025 was to emphasise the importance of multilateralism based on law, governance of artificial intelligence, climate action, and global health, representing the aspirations of over 650 million ASEAN citizens.

Anwar attended the BRICS Summit as a partner country to the bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

-- BERNAMA