Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia

28/07/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 28/07/2024 15:50

WORKING VISIT BY THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION TO MALAYSIA 27 - 28 JULY 2024

WORKING VISIT BY THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION TO MALAYSIA 27 - 28 JULY 2024

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov undertook a working visit to Malaysia from 27 to 28 July 2024.

On 28 July 2024, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dato' Seri Utama Haji Mohamad bin Haji Hasan and Minister Lavrov had a bilateral meeting at Wisma Putra, Putrajaya where they took stock and discussed existing cooperation between the two countries across a wide range of areas, including trade and investment, Halal industry and Islamic banking, defence, science and technology, education including TVET, and tourism, as well as the exchange of high-level visits.

Both sides committed to enhancing closer collaboration through existing bilateral mechanisms, particularly the Joint Commission on Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation.

Both Foreign Ministers also briefly touched on regional and international issues, including the situation in Palestine. Both Foreign Ministers were in Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic on 26-27 July 2024 to participate in the ASEAN-Russia Post Ministerial Conference and the ASEAN Regional Forum where they extensively discussed ASEAN-Russia Dialogue Relations and regional and international issues of common concern.

The two Foreign Ministers also exchanged Diplomatic Notes on Cooperation between Malaysia's Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR) and the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

Minister Lavrov also paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim at Seri Perdana to further discuss the long-standing bilateral ties between Malaysia and Russia.

Their discussion focused on Malaysia's interest in participating in BRICS. As the current Chair of BRICS, Minister Lavrov assured the Prime Minister that the Russian Federation would extend its support to Malaysia's aspiration to join BRICS.

In 2023, the Russian Federation ranked as Malaysia's 8th largest trading partner among European countries. Total bilateral trade increased by 15.6% to RM14.22 billion (USD3.1 billion), compared with RM12.3 billion (USD2.79 billion) in 2022.

PUTRAJAYA

28 July 2024