PUTRAJAYA, Sept 5 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today received a courtesy call from visiting Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong at Perdana Putra, here, as Malaysia and Singapore continue to further cement their close relationship.

This is Wong’s maiden visit to Malaysia after being appointed as the island republic’s deputy prime minister in June 2022. Wong arrived in Malaysia yesterday for a four-day visit.

Ismail Sabri in almost-an-hour meeting which began at 5.30pm congratulated Wong on his appointment and both leaders reiterated their commitment to further strengthen the close and strong Malaysia-Singapore bilateral relations, including by exploring new areas of cooperation between both countries.

Also present were Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz and Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah.

Singapore is Malaysia’s second largest export destination after China with a value of US$29.85 billion (RM134 billion) and also Malaysia’s second largest import source after China with imports amounting to US$18.45 billion from January to July 2022.

From January to December 2021, Singapore’s investment in Malaysia amounted to US$38.62 billion while Malaysia’s investment in Singapore totalled US$25.41 billion for the same period.

While in Malaysia, Wong is also scheduled to have an audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah at Istana Negara. — Bernama