Ahmad Zahid speaks at the meeting. — Bernama photo
KUALA LUMPUR: The government is confident that Malaysia-Australia bilateral ties can be upgraded in trade, investment, education, defence, security, food and agriculture, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said the government was aware that people-to-people relations played a crucial role to boost ties and bilateral co-operation between the two countries.
In this matter, he said Malaysia was prepared to accomodate more visits at every level, he added in a statement after receiving Australia’s Justice Minister who is helping the Prime Minister on the Issue of Preventing Terrorism, Michael Keenan at Sasana Kijang, Bank Negara here yesterday.
The meeting, held on the sidelines of the 2017 3rd Counter-Terrorism Financing Summit was to discuss issues pertaining to Malaysia-Australia’s bilateral ties which began way back in 1957.
Ahmad Zahid said the bilateral ties had been upgraded to Strategic Sharing through a declaration announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his Australian counterpart, Malcolm Turnbull on Nov 22, 2015.
“Under the declaration, both countries have successfully held the first round of a scheduled meeting, including the Annual Meeting involving the Foreign Ministers, Senior Officers’ Consultations and Strategic Dialogues of Senior Officers.
For the record, between January and August, trade between Malaysia and Australia rose by 31.7 per cent to RM35.02 billion compared to RM26.59 billion during the same period last year. — Bernama