KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim received a courtesy call from Singapore’s Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan this afternoon.

Through a post on his official Facebook page today, Anwar said that in the meeting he and Balakrishnan exchanged views on various bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest.

"I also expressed my desire to focus on the economy and make progress together in solving outstanding bilateral issues in a comprehensive manner,” he said.

Balakrishnan is in Malaysia on a four-day official visit from Sunday to Wednesday (Jan 15-18).

He also held a meeting today with his counterpart Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir where both foreign ministers re-affirmed the excellent long-standing close ties between Malaysia and Singapore.

Yesterday, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah granted an audience to Balakrishnan at Istana Negara. — Bernama