Saudi king begins rare Asian tour

One- month visit includes building ties, investments

Malaysia welcomed Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Sunday for the start of a rare, monthlong Asian tour, where the monarch will build ties and seek to draw more investments to the oil- rich Gulf nation.

The visit is the first by a Saudi king to Malaysia in more than a decade, as the Arab nation courts Asian investors for the sale of a 5 percent stake in state firm Aramco in 2018, expected to be the world’s biggest IPO

Malaysian state television on Sunday showed live footage of the octogenarian king descending from his plane on an escala- tor flown in with his delegation. He was received by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak before being whisked away in a heavily guarded convoy for a state ceremony at Malaysia’s parliament grounds.

King Salman also plans to visit Indonesia, Brunei, Japan, China, the Maldives and Jordan “to meet with the leaders of those countries to discuss bilateral relations and regional and international issues of common concern,” a royal court statement carried on Saudi Arabia’s state media SPA reported.

Government sources with knowledge of the visit said a 600- strong delegation will accompany the king on his fourday visit to Malaysia, where cooperation on energy developments will be on the agenda.

State oil firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd ( Petronas) and Saudi Aramco will sign an agreement on Tuesday to collaborate in Malaysia’s Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development ( RAPID) project, a boost for the Southeast Asian economy which has been reeling under weak global oil . prices.

Relations between the two countries have been in the spotlight over the last two years after Saudi Arabia was dragged into a multi- billion dollar corruption scandal at Malaysian state fund 1MDB, founded by Najib.

Najib has denied any wrongdoing in the money- laundering case which is now being investigated by several countries including the US, Switzerland and Singapore.

A Malaysian government inquiry found that nearly $ 700 million transferred to the Prime Minister’s bank account in 2013 was a donation from the Saudi royal family and most of it was returned.