Sec-gen to lead Malaysian delegation to talks

KUALA LUMPUR: SecretaryGeneral of Foreign Affairs Ministry Datuk Seri Ramlan Ibrahim will lead the Malaysian delegation to the Foreign Ministry Consultations between Malaysia and New Zealand in Wellington, New Zealand on Aug 14, and to the Senior Officials Talks between Malaysia and Australia in Canberra, Australia on Aug 16.

The ministry, in a statement yesterday, said the New Zealand delegation will be led by the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand, Dr Brook Barrington, while the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia, Frances Adamson, will lead the Australian delegation to the meeting.

During these meetings in Wellington and Canberra, the respective heads of delegation will take stock of the progress of the existing bilateral cooperation and discuss the current regional and international issues of mutual concern.

“They are expected to touch on issues related to Asean, the United Nations ( UN), South China Sea, developments in the Pacific, counter- terrorism, and the Middle East conf lict,” the statement said.

It said the meetings are timely as Malaysia celebrates the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with New Zealand and Australia this year.

The statement said the Foreign Ministry Consultations between Malaysia and New Zealand is the 7th bilateral consultations held at the level of SecretaryGeneral since its establishment on 6 September 2005. The last meeting was held on June 10, 2015 in Putrajaya.

The Senior Officials Talks between Malaysia and Australia, on the other hand, is a biannual meeting, alternating annually with the Senior Officials Strategic Dialogue ( at the level of deputy secretary- general) under the Malaysia-Australia Strategic Partnership Framework which was announced by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Nov 22, 2015.

Malaysia’s bilateral relations with New Zealand and Australia have grown steadily and can be described as broad- based and substantive, enjoying vibrant cooperative relations in a wide range of sectors including trade and investment, education, security, defence and people- topeople ties.

From January to May 2017, bilateral trade between Malaysia and New Zealand increased by 42.1 per cent to RM 3.25 billion ( NZD 1.01 billion) as compared to RM2.28 billion ( NZD0.76 billion) for the corresponding period in 2016. During the same period, bilateral trade between Malaysia and Australia also recorded an increase by 30.8 per cent to RM22.3 billion (AUD6.56 billion) as compared to RM17.04 billion (AUD5.01 billion) for the corresponding period in 2016. — Bernama