KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail have just completed performing the minor Muslim pilgrimage or umrah in Mekah during his official visit to Saudi Arabia.

"Alhamdulillah, I had just finished performing the Umrah a while ago with Azizah and the Malaysian delegation.

"Praying for the prosperity for the people and the country and our efforts to make Malaysia strong again and blessed by Him, inshaAllah,” he said he said in a post on Facebook today.

Besides Wan Azizah, Anwar was accompanied by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil and other senior government officials.

Earlier, Anwar had arrived for his official visit to Saudi Arabia starting today till Friday at the invitation of the Kingdom’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.

This will be his maiden visit to the Kingdom after being sworn in as the country’s 10th prime minister last November.

According to a statement from the Foreign Ministry, Anwar is scheduled to have audiences with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.

During the visit, the prime minister will also hold engagement sessions with the business communities and Malaysian diaspora in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia remains Malaysia’s largest trading partner and the largest source of imports in the West Asian region. The total trade in 2022 was valued at RM45.52 billion (US$10.26 billion), an increase of 159.2 per cent, compared to RM17.56 billion (US$4.23 billion) in 2021.