KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah will be on a special visit to London from tomorrow until October 16.

Comptroller of the Royal Household for Istana Negara Datuk Seri Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said during the visit, Their Majesties will have an audience with Britain’s King Charles III at Buckingham Palace on October 12.

He said the audience reflected Al-Sultan Abdullah’s closeness with King Charles.

"His Majesty’s friendship with King Charles spans over four decades and had played polo together during his teenage years in various international competitions.

"The audience is also a testimony of the close bilateral relationship between Malaysia and the United Kingdom since Malaysia’s independence 65 years ago,” Ahmad Fadil said in a statement today.

On the same day (October 12), Al-Sultan Abdullah and Tunku Azizah are also scheduled to officiate at the opening of the Battersea Power Station, Malaysia’s iconic project in London.

The 16.99-hectare real-estate project is a joint venture between Sime Darby Property, SP Setia Berhad, the Employees Provident Fund and Permodalan Nasional Berhad since 2012 with a gross development value of RM51.53 billion.

Ahmad Fadil said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Raja Permaisuri are scheduled to end the special visit and depart for Malaysia on October 16.

In terms of bilateral relations, the United Kingdom is Malaysia’s 18th largest trading partner in 2021 with total trade recorded between the two countries amounting to RM17.17 billion, an increase of 2.9 per cent compared to 2020.

The value of Malaysian exports to the United Kingdom last year was RM9.78 billion while the value of imports from the United Kingdom amounted to RM7.39 billion. — Bernama