On 19 May 2025, YB Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, met with Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), at the GCC General Secretariat headquarters. He was accompanied by H.E. Datuk Wan Zaidi Wan Abdullah, Malaysia’s Ambassador to the Kingdom, and the official delegation. The discussion focused on launching Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations during the ASEAN-GCC Summit 2025. Subsequently, on 27 May 2025, the two officials met in Kuala Lumpur to sign a joint statement officially initiating the FTA negotiations between Malaysia and the GCC.
