KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah today received a telephone call from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Istana Negara.

According to Istana Negara’s official Facebook page, the 30-minute telephone conversation which began at 4 pm focused on how Malaysia and Turkey could cooperate in addressing the Covid-19 outbreak as well as post-pandemic challenges.

“Among other matters discussed, were measures to strengthen existing bilateral relations and enhancing collaboration in various fields,” the posting read.

The session was said to be the first such discussion via telephone between the King and Erdogan.

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According to the statement, Al-Sultan Abdullah was scheduled for a five-day state visit to Turkey beginning April 19, but the trip had been postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

On December 18, last year, the King received a courtesy call from Erdogan at the Istana Negara in conjunction with the 2019 Kuala Lumpur Summit (KL Summit).

Turkey is Malaysia’s third-largest trading partner from West Asia, while Malaysia is Turkey’s largest trading partner in Asean.

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Malaysia’s total trade with Turkey amounted to RM5.22 billion from January-July 2019. Total exports were valued at RM4.24 billion while imports totalled RM0.98 billion.

Last Thursday, Erdogan had a 30-minute telephone conversation with Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in which both leaders shared their experience in dealing with the Covid-19 outbreak and other matters of common interest. — Bernama