Pakistan and Malaysia yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for partial abolition of visa between the two countries, Pakistani officials said.
Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamed witnessed the signing of the partial visa abolishment agreement (PVAA) which will reinforce the positive momentum in the bilateral relationship by broadening contact at the officials’ level between the two countries.
“FM Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Malaysian Home Minister Tan Sri Dato Haji Muhyiddin signed the MoU on PVAA, in the presence of PM Imran Khan and Malaysian PM Mohamed,” foreign office spokesperson Mohamed Faisal tweeted.
The two countries also agreed to further bolster cooperation in diverse fields and said both sides will identify new areas for future collaboration.
Addressing a joint news conference with his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir in Kuala Lumpur, PM Khan said Pakistan wants to learn from Malaysia’s experience of turning around economy, trade, and development in other sectors.
Both leaders stressed the importance of exchanges of visits at all levels, with a view to further expand the depth of bilateral ties for commerce and business in both countries, particularly in palm oil, agro products, food retail, halal products, automotive parts, energy, science and technology, and telecommunication.
Imran said Pakistan has huge untapped tourism resources, which it wants to develop on the pattern of Malaysia.
“Malaysia progressed greatly under the leadership of Mahathir. Both of us received votes because we stood against corruption.”
He added, “We will look at Malaysia and how it has progressed to bolster our tourism and other departments.”
PM Imran invited his Malaysian counterpart to visit Pakistan to attend the March 23 ceremony and said that he would be the guest of honour.
Speaking at the press conference, Mahathir said, “Pakistan and Malaysia face the same challenges. Imran Khan is the first foreign leader whom I have welcomed.”
He emphasised the need to continue mutual cooperation to benefit from the experiences of one another.
He said it was also decided to have a dialogue partnership at the Asean group, besides enhancing mutual cooperation in the defence sector.
Malaysia invited Pakistani companies to invest in the country in both manufacturing and services sectors where the companies are able to leverage Malaysia’s strategic location in expanding their investments into Asean and the Asia Pacific regions.
Pakistan invited potential Malaysian companies to explore the possibility of investing in Special Economic Zones to take advantage of Pakistan’s strategic location at the crossroads of Central, South and West Asia.
In a joint statement released, the two leaders welcomed the establishment of bilateral consultation between the senior officials of both the foreign ministers as the mechanism to intensify engagements between both sides. In this regard, Malaysia and Pakistan will convene the first bilateral consultation in Islamabad next year.
The sole electric provider in Malaysia, Tenaga Nasional Berhad is open to business opportunities with Pakistan including in renewable energy.
Reaffirming the Malaysia-Pakistan Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (MPCEPA) signed on November 8, 2007 in Kuala Lumpur which entered into force on January 1, 2008, Malaysia and Pakistan recognised the importance of regular discussions to strengthen the trade relationship in key sectors and address bilateral trade imbalance.
Both sides said they are looking forward to a possible MPCEPA Joint Committee Meeting in the near future with the intention to enhance further economic partnership.
On the Inter-Governmental Agreement on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) between Malaysia and Pakistan signed in November 2017, PM Mahathir reiterated Malaysia’s commitment to assist Pakistan in addressing its energy shortfall.
In this regard, PM Imran welcomed Malaysia’s cooperation in LNG and other energy sectors including hydroelectric and renewable resources.
Both the leaders reaffirmed the importance of the MoU on Defence Cooperation and looked forward to the 13th Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation (JCDC) which will be convened in 2019 in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia invited Pakistan to participate in the upcoming Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) in 2019. Pakistan also welcomed Malaysia’s participation in the upcoming Defence Expo IDEAS-2018.
The two leaders agreed on the need to enhance educational ties between Malaysia and Pakistan and agreed that close cooperation on education and training are critical elements of the next phase of the relationship.