PUTRAJAYA – Pakistan and Malaysia on Monday, expressing satisfaction on the steady progress in bilateral cooperation, agreed to continue working together to explore new avenues for collaboration, including investment and joint ventures in multiple sectors.
The bilateral ties and cooperation were discussed in a meeting between Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim at Perdana Putra.
It was agreed that both sides would continue exploring new avenues for cooperation in information technology and telecommunications, the Halal industry, automotive, connectivity, green energy, electrical and electronic manufacturing, tourism, higher education, climate change and agriculture. Upon arrival, the prime minister was greeted by an official welcome ceremony followed by a smaller group meeting between the two leaders before the delegation-level talks between the two countries, under the leadership of the two prime ministers. During their highly constructive and fruitful meeting, the two leaders expressed their satisfaction on the steady progress in bilateral cooperation between both sides, following the Malaysian prime minister’s visit to Pakistan in October 2024. They also agreed to enhance the quota of halal meat exports from Pakistan to Malaysia to USD 200 million. They also expressed their satisfaction on the exports of rice from Pakistan to Malaysia, which had, in fact, exceeded its quota.
Both the leaders also held detailed discussions on major regional and international developments, including the situation in the Middle East. The Malaysian prime minister praised Pakistan’s efforts in a constructive role in the ongoing peace efforts in Palestine, including under the recent initiative of President Donald Trump.
Prime Minister Shehbaz also emphasized the importance of enhanced cooperation between Pakistan and Malaysia at multilateral forums including the United Nations (UN) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), particularly in the context of the complex challenges facing the Islamic world.
He reiterated Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir and thanked Malaysia for its steadfast support for a peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN resolutions.
The two leaders further deliberated on strengthening Pakistan–ASEAN engagement. While congratulating the Malaysian prime minister on Malaysia’s assumption of the Chair of ASEAN, Prime Minister Shehbaz thanked Anwar Ibrahim for reaffirmation of Malaysia’s support for Pakistan’s bid to become a Full Dialogue Partner of ASEAN.
Following the talks, the leaders witnessed an exchange of a number of MoUs between the two countries in the fields of training of diplomats, tourism, halal certification, higher education, combating and preventing corruption and small and medium enterprises.
On this occasion, the two prime ministers launched the Urdu translation of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s seminal work, SCRIPT, that presents his vision and values on leadership.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also hosted a special luncheon in honour of Prime Minister Shehbaz and his delegation.
The six accords were signed to strengthen bilateral cooperation covering different areas including education, Halal certification, tourism and combating corruption.
The pre-signed documents were exchanged at a ceremony held at Perdana Putra Complex – Office of the Malaysian Prime Minister – during the three-day official visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Malaysia, at the invitation of his Malay counterpart Anwar Ibrahim.
Both the leaders witnessed the ceremony held after their meeting as well as the delegation level talks.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim, following their “very productive” discussions at their meeting and delegation-level talks, told a joint press stakeout that their deliberations encompassed bilateral cooperation as well as international issues, including Israel’s oppression in Gaza.
Prime Minister Shehbaz said that Pakistan desired to join hands with Malaysia to learn from its expertise and pursue joint ventures and mutually beneficial projects as both sides could collaborate in areas of agriculture, IT, and vocational and skills training, where Pakistan was doing “wonderfully well.”
Referring to huge number of students studying in each other’s countries, he called for harnessing this potential to make the two economies stronger and move forward in unison through win-win cooperation.
“You announced a quota of $200 million for meat exports from Pakistan to Malaysia. Let me assure our Malaysian importers and officials that this quota will be regulated by market price mechanisms and will fully comply with all Halal certification requirements set by Malaysian customs and food authorities. I guarantee that we will make every possible effort to meet all your conditions, ensuring not only that we achieve this $200 million quota but also that we surpass it with a quantum leap. When consumers are satisfied, the sky is the limit,” the prime minister remarked.
The prime minister, who earlier presented Anwar Ibrahim with an Urdu version of his book “SCRIPT: For a Better Malaysia,” repeatedly spoke highly of his leadership skills, marking compassion, kindness, outstanding courage, resilience, and patience with a sharp focus on building Malaysia as one of the strongest economies in the world.
In his remarks, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that over the years, Pakistan and Malaysia had established strong ties in education, defense, and other fields, while continuously expanding economic cooperation.
He said in this era of geopolitical uncertainties, both sides saw immense potential to deepen partnership in defense, agriculture, digital technologies, energy, and emerging fields.
He said to strengthen bilateral economic ties, Malaysia would facilitate Pakistan’s interest to export meat to Malaysia and would do whatever was necessary to achieve these goals.
Later, addressing the Pakistan-Malaysia Business and Investment Conference here, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stressed the vital role of the private sector in driving economic growth, urging business leaders from Pakistan and Malaysia to seize new opportunities for bilateral trade and investment.
He emphasized that governments could only create enabling environments, but real progress depended on private enterprise.
“It is the private sector that must drive the engine of growth,” the prime minister said adding “Governments can only lay the foundation and provide a framework, business should be run by business houses, enterprises, and experts, not government.”
The conference, attended by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and a host of entrepreneurs from both countries, was aimed to explore joint ventures and deepen trade relations.
PM Shehbaz expressed confidence that enhanced cooperation between Pakistani and Malaysian businesses could reduce Pakistan’s reliance on external financial assistance.
“We are currently under an IMF program that is helping stabilize our economy. This program will end in two years. But if entrepreneurs from both Pakistan and Malaysia step forward, commit to joint ventures, and build lasting business relationships, I believe we can say goodbye to the IMF forever,” the prime minister added.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on the occasion stressed the need to foster collaboration under ASEAN, noting that expanding the grouping’s economic footprint would benefit the entire region.
He assured Pakistani entrepreneurs of his government’s support in facilitating smoother business processes and regulatory cooperation.
He also uttered a few few words in Urdu that was warmly applauded by the audience, further highlighting the warmth between the two nations.
PM Shehbaz said as the fifth-largest producer of cotton and milk, and the fourth-largest mango producer globally, Pakistan offered immense potential for value-added agricultural exports. “Our mangoes are among the best in taste worldwide. With Malaysian expertise, we can build SME-based processing units for off-season packaging, value addition, and export.”
He said Pakistan will export $200 million worth of Halal meat to Malaysia assuring to compete on price, quality, and shipment commitments.
Highlighting the vast mineral potential of Pakistan, he pointed to the Rekodek copper and gold mine in Balochistan as a major opportunity for joint investment, especially in the context of the global energy transition.
As regards the government’s performance on the economic front, the prime minister noted that Pakistan’s macroeconomic indicators were showing encouraging results. Inflation has dropped from 36% to single digits, and policy rates have decreased from 22.5% to 11%, he said.
The prime minister emphasized that combined efforts could unlock new horizons in trade, investment, and industrial collaboration.
