PUTRAJAYA, June 5 — Education, agriculture, food security, women and pharmacy are some of the areas Malaysia and Qatar want to further expand on.

This was discussed during a courtesy call by Ambassador of Qatar to Malaysia Essa Mohamed Al Mannai on Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail at the latter’s office here yesterday.

According to a statement released today by the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office in conjunction with the visit, it said Essa Mohamed had invited Dr Wan Azizah to visit Qatar and discuss the areas they could work together on.

The statement said Essa Mohamed told Dr Wan Azizah that Qatar was going to have a direct shipping line to China, with two transit hubs, in Malaysia and Pakistan.

"We can do a lot together, including medical tourism,” Essa Mohamed was quoted as saying in the statement, adding that Malaysia’s nursing system was something that Qatar could use.

Essa Mohamed also said that food and medicine were areas where both countries could work together on as Qatar imports 95 per cent of its needs.

Essa Mohamed during the meeting also praised the smooth transition of power during the 14th general election in Malaysia that saw the first change of government in 61 years.

Essa Mohamed also shared that the Qatar government had pledged US$50 million (RM198.9 million) to help the Rohingya community in Malaysia.

Saying that it could be further explored, Dr Wan Azizah said: "We have a lot of influx of Rohinyas. We must have a well-thought out programme to combat this.”

Essa Mohamed also shared that the Qatar government was building a new city called Lusail, which is akin to Putrajaya, adding that two Malaysian companies were involved in the project.

Total trade with Qatar increased by 21.5 per cent from US$566 million (RM2.25 billion) in 2016 to US$670 million in 2017. — Bernama