By Shazinsharaf – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=89976923
Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, has begun his scheduled official visit to Malaysia, which should last until 24 May.
On Sunday, 21 May, the Crown Prince departed the United Arab Emirates and landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s Bunga Rama Complex, where he was welcomed by the Crown Prince of Pahang, Prince Hassanal Ibrahim, and the Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Sheikh was then escorted through a guard of honour made up of members of the 1st Royal Ranger Regiment of the Malaysian Army.
His Highness is accompanied by a high-level delegation, including, among others, the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and the Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development.
The Sheikh is expected to also meet with the King of Malaysia and pay a courtesy visit to the Prime Minister, although the bulk of his trip will be focused on the main points of his agenda.
Those points include mutual cooperation, the further strengthening of bilateral relations and ties between the two countries, reciprocal trade and energy.
The two countries share ties that date back several decades, with the Malaysian embassy in Abu Dhabi opening in 1983, and the UAE’s Embassy in Kuala Lumpur following suit in 1995.
Since then, there have been numerous visits between the two countries from officials at various levels. The last trip dates back only a few months when the King of Malaysia travelled to the UAE for a State Visit.
This was the second visit in just three months; in December of 2022, the King of Malaysia visited Abu Dhabi to witness the signing of a crucial oil deal between the two countries.
Other ties between the two countries include trade, with the UAE representing Malaysia’s second-largest trading partner and export destination, with the trade volume rising by 73% in 2022 from 22.33 billion Malaysian Ringgit (or close to 5 billion USD) to 38.73 billion MYR (or a bit more than 8 billion USD).
Another key point of this relationship is tourism, with many Emiratis flying to Malaysia every year, both for tourism and for studying reasons – with the most sought-after paths being management, accounting and law.
This is Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s first visit to Malaysia since being nominated as Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince; his predecessor in the role, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, who is the current President of the United Arab Emirates, was the one who attended the coronation of the King of Malaysia in 2019.
