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 the State of Qatar to Malaysia Essa Mohamed Al Mannai on Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Dr Wan Ismail yesterday.
Essa Mohamed invited Dr Wan Azizah to visit Qatar and discuss the areas they could work together on. He added that Qatar could learn a lot from Malaysia.
"I can arrange for you to come and discuss all that we discussed and to see our women.
"Half the staff at the Foreign Ministry of Qatar are women and we have women ambassadors. But you are more advanced. We don’t have a ministry for women. There is a lot we can learn from you. We can develop this relationship more. We are happy to receive anyone from your side and to reciprocate the same from our side,” he said.
Dr Wan Azizah talked about working together on sharing the nation’s wealth with its people.
"It would be good if we can work together on enhancing that, it is important to share the country’s wealth with the people,” she said, adding that agriculture and food security were additional areas both countries could cooperate on.
Essa Mohamed added that food and medicine are areas both countries could work together on as Qatar imports 95 per cent of their needs.
He also praised the smooth transition of power during the 14th general election in Malaysia that saw the first change of government in 61 years.
"There are a lot of leaders on our side killing each other for power. There is a lot to learn from you. As Muslims, we are ambassadors to the religion and country. Our unity is a concern. We should solve our issues under our own umbrella bodies such as the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
"We know that but we practice things differently,” he said.
Dr Wan Azizah added: "As the first woman Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, I carry the image of the Muslim women and I would like to further work with Qatar to further expand this middle path, one of moderation.”
Essa Mohamed also shared that the Qatar government had pledged US$50 million (RM198.9 million) to help the Rohingya community in Malaysia. Dr Wan Azizah said this can be explored further.
"We have a lot of influx of Rohinyas. We must have a well thought- out programme to combat this,” she said.
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