RIYADH, April 29 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim held a bilateral meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Special Meeting here today.

In the meeting which lasted almost 30 minutes, the two leaders expressed their commitment to continue strengthening Putrajaya-Islamabad ties and boosting bilateral trade to another level.

The discussion also focused on efforts to explore investment opportunities and new cooperation in the fields of trade, education, defence, tourism and human resources.

Earlier, Anwar received a courtesy call from Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

In the 30-minute meeting, they exchanged views on current geopolitical issues in West Asia and Israeli atrocities in Gaza.

The two leaders also touched on bilateral cooperation between Malaysia and Turkiye, especially on investment, trade, defence and education.

Anwar is here to attend the two-day WEF Special Meeting themed "Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development”, which attracted more than 1,000 leaders, including heads of government and state as well as captains of industry.

Meanwhile, Anwar, in a Facebook post on the courtesy call by Hakan, said they touched on the interests of both countries, including lengthy discussions on the worsening humanitarian situation in Palestine.

"I express appreciation for Turkiye’s tireless efforts in assisting the Palestinian people and being the second-largest contributor in delivering aid to Gaza. Malaysia is open to cooperating with Turkiye to continue this noble effort,” he said.

At the same time, Anwar said that during the discussion, they also shared the desire to further strengthen the friendship between Malaysia and Turkiye, especially as both countries approach the 60th anniversary of their diplomatic relations this year.

He said the discussion also focused on efforts to explore current and new investment and trade potentials, including palm oil, halal industry, aerospace, healthcare, digital and green economy, artificial intelligence (AI), defence, as well as electrical and electronics.

"At the end of the meeting, I once again extended an invitation to President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan to visit Malaysia as soon as possible,” he said. — Bernama