SEPANG, June 11 — Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong arrived in Malaysia today to begin his two-day working visit to strengthen ties and bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

He arrived with his delegation at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1 at 8.50pm on a commercial flight and was greeted by the Foreign Ministry’s Chief of Protocol Datuk Mohd Aini Atan.

Also present was Singapore High Commissioner to Malaysia, Vanu Gopala Menon.

Upon arrival, Wong was also given a guard of honour by the First Battalion Royal Ranger Regiment under the command of Captain Adam Azman.

Wong’s visit was at the invitation of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and also his first overseas trip since being sworn in as Singapore’s fourth prime minister on May 15.

Wong was accompanied by his wife, Loo Tze Lui; Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and Minister of State for Communications and Information and for Health, Rahayu Mahzam.

Wong’s working visit underscores Malaysia and Singapore’s shared commitment in bolstering the long-standing relations and as preparation for the Annual Leaders’ Retreat to be hosted by Malaysia end of this year.

During the visit, the Singapore prime minister is scheduled to have a four-eye meeting with Anwar to discuss efforts in strengthening ties and bilateral cooperation between Malaysia and Singapore as well as to exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual concern.

Wong is also scheduled to meet Deputy Prime Ministers Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who is also the Rural and regional development minister and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof who is also the energy transition and water transformation minister.

In 2023, Malaysia and Singapore were each other’s second-largest global trading partners. Singapore was also Malaysia’s largest trading partner among Asean countries with total trade valued at RM363.13 billion. — Bernama