ANKARA, Dec 21, ( Asia Free Press): Turkey and Malaysia, two strategic partners, have agreed to improve further cooperation in all areas, especially the defence industry between the two Muslim countries, according to local media reports.
“We are resolved to improving our relations on every front when it comes to especially using our potential well in the upcoming period,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a joint press conference in Ankara with his visiting Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah.
Telling how the two officials discussed the economy, trade with local currencies, investment, health, the defence industry, security, and the fight against terrorism, Cavusoglu also added, saying, “Malaysia is our top trade partner in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region of 650 million people.”
With the trade volume between the two countries in the first 11 months of this year surging by 7% compared to last year, Cavusoglu noted that the bilateral trade volume rose more than 30% to $3.5 billion.
On defence industry cooperation, Cavusoglu said Turkish companies are “closely interested in defence industry tenders for Malaysia.”
“Some of our companies have won tenders in the past and these companies have delivered the products before deadline. We have many other companies entering various tenders … Malaysian investment in our country is on the rise as well,” he further claimed.
In his turn, Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah hailed Turkey’s “leadership role” in the Muslim world, describing his meeting with Cavusoglu as a “very fruitful discussion on a number of areas,” including “most importantly on economic cooperation.”
“We should follow up on the swap agreement on using our own currency when it comes to trade,” Abdullah asserted.
Abdullah also expressed his country’s interest in the possibility of using Turkey’s domestic COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Turkovac.
