Azmin receives courtesy call from Saudi Foreign Minister

PUTRAJAYA: Senior Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali today received a courtesy call from Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan here, with discussions focusing on efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation in trade and investment.

The meeting, which lasted about 45 minutes in Perdana Putra, was in conjunction with Prince Faisal's two-day official visit to Malaysia which began yesterday.

Prince Faisal had earlier paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob at the Prime Minister's Office.

Saudi Arabia is Malaysia's second-largest trading partner and the largest source of imports among West Asian countries, with the Malaysia-Saudi Arabia trade volume in 2021 worth RM17.56 billion (USD4.23 billion).

The Saudi Arabian government also recently agreed to continue the Makkah Route initiative - an effort by the Saudi government to facilitate pilgrims' entry to Saudi Arabia by completing it in the airports of their countries - for Malaysian pilgrims this year.

-- BERNAMA