PRIME Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had an audience with the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, yesterday.

The 30-minute meeting took place at the president’s residence in Abu Dhabi.

This was the first meeting between the two leaders since Sheikh Mohamed’s appointment on May 14.

Ismail arrived in the capital yesterday morning on a four-day working visit to UAE, the second since he took office in August 2021.

According to officials, the leaders discussed ways to strengthen 40 years of bilateral ties between both countries, as well as explore new areas of co-operation, such as food security, digitalisation in education, and renewable energy.

Today, the prime minister is scheduled to witness the exchange of a memorandum of understanding between Ranhill Utilities and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC-Masdar.

In 2021, the UAE was Malaysia’s largest trading partner, second-largest export destination and second-largest import source from the West Asian region.

For the year 2021, Malaysia’s total trade with the UAE increased by 7.9% to RM22.3 billion from RM20.7 billion in 2020. – Bernama, September 27, 2022.