PUTRAJAYA, Dec 12 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today received a visit from Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta at Seri Perdana here.
Ramos-Horta and his delegation arrived in Malaysia yesterday 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 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’s 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 precede 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 the seventh source of imports.
From January to October 2022, the total bilateral trade between Malaysia and Timor-Leste was US$84.6 million (RM373.68 million).
“Through this meeting, we are able to assess the progress of cooperation between Malaysia and Timor-Leste and explore new areas of cooperation,” said Anwar in a post on his official Facebook page.
He said Malaysia will also continue to provide support to Timor-Leste from the aspects of social, security and economic development.
Anwar added that Malaysia confirmed its commitment to continue working with Asean member countries regarding the roadmap for Timor-Leste’s membership to Asean.
“Hopefully the relationship between the two countries will continue to be strengthened through various fields of cooperation,” he said.
— Bernama
