KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 — Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah granted an audience to Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Malaysia Mahmoud Hussein Saeed Qattan at Istana Negara, today.
According to Comptroller of the Royal Household of Istana Negara Datuk Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin, during the meeting, Al-Sultan Abdullah also conveyed his prayers and well wishes for the swift recovery of His Majesty King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
“His Majesty Al-Sultan Abdullah recalled with admiration his fruitful meeting with King Salman during his special visit to the Kingdom on July 12 -14, 2019.
“His Majesty also extended his appreciation to King Salman and the Saudi Government for the generous contribution of medical equipment that Malaysia has received.
“The contribution has assisted the Malaysian health authorities in combating the Covid-19 pandemic. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is so far the largest contributor of medical equipment to Malaysia,” Ahmad Fadil said in a statement.
Ahmad Fadil said Al-Sultan Abdullah greatly valued the assistance and cooperation provided by the Saudi government to the successful repatriation of Malaysians from Saudi Arabia.
As of today, 1,222 Malaysians have safely arrived home from the Kingdom via 10 special flights.
“Al-Sultan Abdullah also expressed his pleasure and satisfaction over the multi-faceted and deep-rooted special relations between Malaysia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and encouraged the two countries to continue to undertake concrete measures to foster greater bilateral collaboration, as well as the unity of the Ummah,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Fadil said Mahmoud Hussein reiterated that Malaysia is a model country that should be emulated by other Muslim countries for development and that this is one of the reasons that Malaysia was chosen as the beneficiary of Makkah Route Initiative or pre-clearance E-Hajj programme since 2017.
In response, Al-Sultan Abdullah expressed hope that the implementation of the programme would continue for future Hajj seasons, Ahmad Fadil said.
Saudi Arabia is Malaysia’s second-largest trading partner (after United Arab Emirates (UAE)) and second-largest export destination (after UAE) as well as the most significant import source among the West Asian countries.
In 2019, Malaysia’s total trade with Saudi Arabia amounted to RM22.31 billion, increased by 2.9 per cent from 2018. — Bernama
