PM Anwar is heading to UAE today, looking at better Asean ties and sustainable development
Beginning today (Sunday), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be on a three-day working visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), concentrating on enhancing regional collaboration in Malaysia’s position as 2025 ASEAN chair.
Tengku Datuk Sirajuzzaman Tengku Mohamed Ariffin, the Malaysian Ambassador to the UAE, said the visit will emphasize ASEAN’s part in advancing green innovation and sustainable development in Southeast Asia.
Following an invitation from UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, also Dubai’s ruler, the prime minister’s visit marks attendance at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW).
“During the ADSW Plenary Session, the Prime Minister will join in a dialogue titled “Asean’s Interconnected Future: Linking Energy, Trade, and Prosperity,” he said during a media conference with Malaysian journalists today.
Tengku Sirajuzzaman also mentioned that the Prime Minister will attend the ADSW opening ceremony, the Zayed Sustainability Prize Awards, and the “Youth 4 Sustainability” discussion, which aligns with Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship theme for 2025, “Inclusivity and Sustainability.”
World leaders expected to participate are Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kenya President William Ruto, Nigeria President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Rwanda President Paul Kagame, Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan, and Uganda President Yoweri Museveni.
Others include New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Finland Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“This is the second visit the prime minister has made to the UAE since October 2023 and his first travel overseas since taking up the ASEAN chair in 2025. It provides him with the first stage to advertise the ASEAN chairmanship to a larger audience, Tengku Sirajuzzaman remarked.
On Tuesday, Anwar stated that he would be seeing UAE President and Abu Dhabi Ruler Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahaney. Monday is the anticipated meeting with Sheikh Mohammed in Dubai.
“Topics of discussion should center on strengthening bilateral relations and investigating possibilities in artificial intelligence and data centers, food and energy security, and renewable energy. He also stated that they will address regional and worldwide topics of mutual importance.
Signing the Malaysia-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which seeks to open fresh trade, investment, and economic cooperation prospects, will be a major focus of the visit.
To draw foreign direct investment and improve trade relations, Tengku Sirajuzzaman added the Prime Minister will also meet business executives and representatives from significant UAE enterprises.
Along with the Prime Minister on this tour are Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir, Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, and Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
Total commerce between Malaysia and the UAE between January and November 2024 came to RM39.53 billion (US$8.61 billion).
With trade in 2023 projected to be RM39.63 billion (US$8.67 billion), the UAE is Malaysia’s second-largest trading partner in the Middle East. Ranked fourth in ASEAN among UAE commercial partners, Malaysia is 32nd worldwide.