PETALING JAYA: Malaysia and Cambodia have agreed to accelerate the process of reviewing bilateral cooperation between the two countries in crucial sectors through the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC), says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Foreign Ministers from both sides had been instructed to set a date for the JCBC meeting earlier than expected, he said.
“Issues like food security, collaboration in research, trade and investments, halal industry, renewable energy, high-technology industries including EVs (electric vehicles), and AI (Artificial intelligence) will be discussed,” said Anwar during a joint press conference with visiting Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet at Perdana Putra.
Malaysia is scheduled to host the JCBC meeting this year.
Hun Manet arrived in Malaysia yesterday for a one-day visit.
Anwar said the two nations have huge potential in terms of boosting trade volume, including for oil palm and white rice.
Malaysia and Cambodia, said Anwar, had agreed to explore new flight routes to expand connectivity.
“There are 47 flights from Cambodia to Kuala Lumpur and from Kuala Lumpur to Cambodia (per week),” he said.
Anwar said Malaysia had expressed its gratitude to the Cambodian government for its assistance in problems related to job scams.
“We express our gratitude to you, Mr Prime Minister, and the Cambodian government for assisting us in resolving the issues of Malaysians who were victims of job scams and syndicates.
“I would like to thank both the police and immigration for their attention and support,” he said.
Anwar also expressed Malaysia’s interest in being a key player in the construction of over 1,000km of seabed energy pipelines, facilitating the transmission of renewable energy from Cambodia and Laos to Singapore.
Earlier, the two prime ministers held a bilateral meeting and then witnessed the exchange of a memorandum of understanding on Cooperation in Financial Innovation and Payment Systems between Bank Negara and the National Bank of Cambodia.
Hun Manet said Cambodia had invited Malaysia to consider the possibility of establishing a joint trade committee, which was discussed by the two leaders, to explore additional values and inject new energy into economic and trade relations.
He said they also discussed the deepening of collaborations in education and training, customs, the halal industry, and the possibility of expanding the import of agricultural products.
As for defence and security, he said both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation and sustaining collaborations, including through information exchange, and to tackle regional challenges posed by online scams.
Malaysian companies have implemented 162 projects in Cambodia, totalling RM14.4bil.
