Remarkable growth seen in Malaysia-UAE bilateral trade and tourism, says Agong

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 ―Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah said the remarkable growth in bilateral trade and tourism between Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) indicates huge economic potential.

In an exclusive interview with Emirates News Agency (WAM), His Majesty said the UAE has been one of Malaysia’s main trading partners in the West Asia region, and in 2019 alone, total trade between Malaysia and the UAE reached US$6.426 billion (RM26 billion), a 12.5 per cent jump from US$5.709 billion in 2018.

The UAE is also Malaysia’s largest export destination and second-largest source of import in the region, said Al-Sultan Abdullah during his five-day special visit to Abu Dhabi starting December 21.

“Malaysia and the UAE have a good relationship, especially in trade and investment sectors.

“Given our strategic location in the Southeast Asian region, Malaysia is committed to being the gateway for the UAE to enter the Southeast Asian market, which is home to 650 million people,” the King was quoted as saying.

His Majesty said as a major hub in the West Asia region, the UAE has always been an important country to Malaysia and serves as a gateway for Malaysia to new markets.

The special visit is the third to the UAE for Al-Sultan Abdullah since being installed as the 16th Yang di- Pertuan Agong. His Majesty’s first visit to UAE was from June 12 to 15, 2019, and the second, a personal one and at the invitation of the Crown Prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed Zayed Al Nahyan, was from November 29 to December 3, 2019.

Sheikh Mohamed had made a special visit to Malaysia at the invitation of Al-Sultan Abdullah in conjunction with His Majesty’s installation as Yang di-Pertuan Agong on July 30, 2019.

According to WAM’s report, Al-Sultan Abdullah expressed hope that both countries could continue to explore opportunities to further strengthen economic ties between the two countries.

“On the tourism front for example, I am pleased to see the growing number of Emirati tourists visiting Malaysia before the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2019, more than 11,000 Emiratis visited Malaysia.

“When the borders are reopened, I hope that there would be more tourists from the UAE choosing to visit Malaysia as their preferred holiday destination, adding to their rich, varied and diverse travel experience,” said the King.

During the interview, Al-Sultan Abdullah also talked about Malaysia’s participation at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Malaysia believes that its participation at the international event in Dubai will be an opportunity to display the significant trade and investment potential, and more importantly, “our national story to the world,” His Majesty said. ― Bernama