On 15 June 2023, His Majesty The King received an audience from the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the National Palace. Also present were Foreign Minister Dato' Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Arthur Joseph Kurup.
His Highness Sheikh Abdullah was on on a two-day official visit to Malaysia on 14-15 June 2023. The UAE is Malaysia's second largest trading partner, the second largest export destination and the second largest import destination from the West Asian region. In 2022, Malaysia's trade volume with the UAE increased by 73.5 percent from RM22.33 billion to RM38.73 billion compared to the previous year.