PUTRAJAYA, Dec 12 — The President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, Dr. José Ramos-Horta, has arrived in Malaysia for a special visit.
During the visit on Monday, Ramos-Horta will have a meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to personally congratulate the latter on his recent appointment as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia.
According to a statement issued by Wisma Putra early Monday, both leaders are also expected to take stock of Malaysia-Timor-Leste bilateral relations and explore new areas of cooperation.
Ramos-Horta is also scheduled to have an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah during this visit.
Malaysia and Timor-Leste maintain warm and friendly relations which precedes Timor-Leste’s independence in 2002.
Malaysia was the first country to set up a Liaison Office in Dili on 13 April 2001 and the first among ASEAN countries to set up an Embassy in Dili on 19 May 2002, and eversince has been actively supporting Timor-Leste in terms of its social, security and economic developments by providing capacity building training courses for its officials through the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP).
According to the statement, from January to October 2022, the total bilateral trade between Malaysia and Timor-Leste recorded was worth USD 84.6 million with total export at USD 62.8 million and total import at USD 21.8 million.
