PUTRAJAYA, Nov 1 – Malaysia's Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today received a courtesy call from his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte at Seri Perdana here as Malaysia and Netherlands continue to strengthen bilateral relations.
Rutte arrived in Malaysia yesterday for a two-day working visit, his second visit to this country after his maiden trip in 2014.
Anwar said the four-eyed meeting was an important platform for holding talks and strengthening bilateral ties between Malaysia and the Netherlands.
"This meeting also enabled us to exchange views on related regional and international issues and also those of mutual interests,” he said in a Facebook post after the meeting.
Among the issues discussed were the oil palm industry, cooperation in digital and artificial intelligence fields, and semiconductor technology, which the two countries had plenty to share.
"Hopefully Malaysia-Netherlands ties will continue to improve and strengthen, InsyaAllah," Anwar said.
After the meeting, Anwar hosted Rutte to lunch at the prime minister's official residence.
In 2022, the Netherlands is Malaysia's 14th largest trading partner and the second largest in the European Union (EU) with a trade volume of RM48.04 billion (US$10.93 billion), an increase of 33.4 per cent compared to RM36.01 billion (US$8.68 billion) in 2021.
The Netherlands is also the largest importer of Malaysian palm oil among EU countries with 732,324.54 tonnes.
— Bernama
