PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim received a courtesy call from Timor Leste President Dr Jose Ramos-Horta at Seri Perdana here.
Ramos-Horta and his delegation arrived in Malaysia on Sunday for a special visit to discuss and evaluate the progress of cooperation between the two countries as well as explore new areas of cooperation.
In a meeting yesterday that lasted about an hour, Ramos-Horta also congratulated Anwar on his recent appointment as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Also present at the bilateral meeting were Economy Minister Mohd Rafizi Ramli, Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Mohamad Alamin, and Foreign Ministry deputy secretary-general Datuk Norman Muhamad.
Timor Leste’s director-general for Asean Affairs Milena Rangel and Timor Leste ambassador to Malaysia Joana Veneranda Amaral were also in attendance.
Anwar then hosted lunch for Ramos-Horta and his delegation.
Malaysia and Timor Leste maintain warm and friendly relations which precedes Timor Leste’s independence in 2002.
Malaysia was the first country to set up a Liaison Office in Dili on April 13, 2001, and the first among Asean countries to set up an embassy in Dili on May 19, 2002, and ever since has been actively supporting Timor Leste in terms of its social, security and economic developments by providing capacity building training courses for its officials through the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP).
In 2021, Malaysia was Timor Leste’s eighth largest trading partner and 13th export destination as well as seventh source of imports.
From January to October 2022, the total bilateral trade between Malaysia and Timor Leste was US$84.6mil (RM373.4bil).
Meanwhile, Perlis Mentri Besar Mohd Shukri Ramli also held a meeting with Anwar at the Finance Ministry here to discuss issues pertaining to the development of Perlis.
“It’s just a normal meeting, to discuss problems facing the Perlis state government,” Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, told Bernama after the meeting which lasted over an hour yesterday.
Mohd Shukri, when met by reporters, said among the matters discussed were development projects in Perlis.
Earlier, Anwar arrived at the Finance Ministry at 9.53am, followed by his two deputies, Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan and Steven Sim Chee Keong, who officially started work yesterday.
Last Sunday, Anwar said he would go to the Finance Ministry to check on projects approved through direct negotiations.
On Dec 6, Anwar ordered a review of RM7bil worth of approvals under the RM15bil flood mitigation projects that were awarded through direct negotiations.