Türkiye, Malaysia pledge deeper cooperation in defense, trade

Ankara [Turkiye], January 8: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday attended here the inaugural meeting of the Türkiye-Malaysia High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, pledging to deepen collaboration in defense, trade and other key sectors.
Speaking at a joint press conference after the meeting, Erdogan emphasized a "win-win" approach, saying, "Türkiye will continue to assess the joint steps it can take with Malaysia in the defense industry field."
The two leaders also witnessed the signing of bilateral agreements aimed at expanding cooperation in higher education, investment, export financing, research, shipbuilding, and information and communication technologies.
While recalling his visit to Kuala Lumpur in February last year, Erdogan noted that both countries had agreed to establish a cooperation council at that time, with its first meeting being held on Wednesday.
Malaysia is Türkiye's largest trading partner in the ASEAN region, Erdogan said, adding that the two countries have a free trade agreement in place.
"Within the framework of our 'Back to Asia' initiative announced in 2019, we attach particular importance to our cooperation with regional countries and ASEAN," he added.
For his part, Anwar agreed that bilateral relations should be expanded beyond trade areas, highlighting the defense cooperation between the two countries.
On international issues, Anwar reaffirmed Malaysia's support for Türkiye's efforts to address regional and global challenges, particularly the Palestinian issue and the situation in Gaza, according to a report by Malaysia's national news agency Bernama.
Source: Xinhua News Agency