On Monday, 30 October 2023, Ambassador Azhar paid a courtesy call on His Excellency Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, the newly appointed Additional Secretary, Asia Pacific, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan at the latter's Office. Ambassador Azhar congratulated the latter on assuming the post. Apart from fostering closer relations in all spheres, during the call, both sides expressed their desire that Malaysia and Pakistan could work on implementing areas of cooperation agreed in the Bilateral Consultations held in March 2023.
Ambassador Azhar informed the Additional Secretary that the Malaysia-Pakistan Business Council was active with offices in Malaysia and Pakistan, respectively. He suggested that technical cooperation may be promoted with Pakistan especially in the field of technical and vocational training. He shared with the Additional Secretary that in September 2023, he visited Lahore, Sialkot and Faisalabad aimed at forging closer bilateral trade cooperation. He cited that the bilateral trade volume in 2022 was USD 1.8 billion and considering the immense potential, hoped that the figure could reach USD 5 billion before 2030.
The Additional Secretary shared with Ambassador Azhar that Pakistan produce high quality dates which could be exported to Malaysia. In addition, he proposed trade in other agro-commodity such as vegetables and other produces. There was a bumper crop of garlic in Pakistan this year opening possibility of exporting garlic and onions to Malaysia. Both sides also discussed cooperation in education sector through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The Additional Secretary welcomed the suggestion and conveyed about the possibility of opening a Malaysian university campus in Pakistan. Another area of collaboration was cultural cooperation. The Additional Secretary offered to conduct lectures on Buddhist heritage in Pakistan. In addition, both sides developed consensus for cooperation in science and technology which could be promoted through relevant organizations on both sides. This can be connected with the applicable SDGs.
