PUTRAJAYA: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is currently on his first official two-day visit to Malaysia.
On the invitation of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the visit is part of the Rouhani’s tour in Southeast Asia with stops in Vietnam and Thailand.
He is accompanied by Iran’s Foreign Minister Dr Mohamad Javad Zarif, senior cabinet ministers and senior government officials from the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In a statement released by the Foreign Ministry, the official visit is aimed at reaffirming and further strengthening the bilateral ties between Malaysia and Iran.
“Both sides are expected to take stock of, as well as expand the scope and substance of bilateral relations in various fields such as trade, investment, oil, energy, education, capacity building and tourism,” the press release stated.
This follows the lifting of the United Nations (UN) sanctions where Iran is again the focus of Malaysian companies interested in exporting their goods and services to the country, which has an estimated market worth USD406 bil.
The ministry said that Iran is an important trading partner for Malaysia among the West Asian countries, adding that the bilateral trade between the two countries have been on an upward trend since early this year.
Between January and June 2016, the total trade was RM1.03 bil (USD250.03 mil), an increase of 11.7% compared to the corresponding period in 2015.
Malaysia’s major export to Iran in 2015 were palm oil (RM950 mil), chemicals and chemical products (RM226 mil), and crude natural rubber (RM222 mil), while Iran’s major imports to Malaysia were agricultural products (RM61 mil), petroleum products (RM35 mil) and crude fertilisers and minerals (RM17 mil).
During his official visit, Rouhani is scheduled to meet the Prime Minister at his office in Putrajaya, after which Najib will host an official dinner for Rouhani and the Iranian delegation.
Both leaders are expected to witness a signing ceremony of extradition treaty between Malaysia and Iran.
