KUALA LUMPUR JUNE 17: The government of Malaysia and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have agreed to elevate the defence ties to greater heights through the formalization of High Level Committee (HLC) under three pillars namely military-to-military cooperation, defence industry collaboration, and military veterans welfare cooperation.
Senior Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said, on the increasing military-to-military cooperation three key areas will be focused including military expertise, military medicine, and military intelligence
“His Royal Highness (HRH) Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and I also discussed on developing the defence industries of both Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. A working group will be established between the Saudi Arabia General Authorities of Military Industries (GAMI), Defence Industry Division (DID) of the Ministry of Defence Malaysia (MINDEF), and the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) on knowledge sharing and potential defence industry partnerships,” said Hishammuddin in a statement today.
The Senior Minister said that in his meeting with his counterpart Prince Mohammed in Saudi Arabia in his Official Visit to the country on the invitation of Prince Mohammed who is also the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence.
“On counter-terrorism, we have agreed to upgrade our cooperation in combating and curbing terror threats and extremism. Meanwhile my meeting with HRH Prince Khalid bin Salman, Vice Minister of Defence to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we had discussed on our strategic relations, in addition to reviewing the Malaysia-Saudi partnership and aspects of cooperation in the defence and military fields.
“The discussion with Prince Mohammed bin Salman also touched on other matters relating to our bilateral relations which covers :- 1) Oil and gas; specifically on cooperation between Saudi Aramco and PETRONAS, and other related bodies; 2) Food security; which covers cooperation on halal industries, and palm oil exports to Saudi Arabia from Malaysia; 3) Economic and financial cooperation through opportunities with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul),” Hishammuddin said.
Hishammuddin added, in his meeting with His Royal Highness Prince Turki bin Mohammad bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Minister of the State and Member of the Cabinet for Saudi Arabia, both had emphasized on the strong bilateral relations and aspects of cooperation in various fields. – Malaysia World News
