PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia hopes to send more students, particularly postgraduates pursuing new fields such as energy transition and food technology, to study in New Zealand, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said this is an area he has requested visiting New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to consider.
He stated that Malaysia has benefited from student exchanges with New Zealand in the past and looks forward to expanding this, especially for postgraduate programmes.
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Acknowledging the long-standing relations between the two countries, Anwar said that both he and Luxon also agreed to enhance collaboration in trade, investment, research, and the halal industry.
"We acknowledge it is unfortunate that despite the potential in the good relations between our countries, we have not enhanced this collaboration.
"We have agreed to look into this and see how we can take advantage of our relations and experience to forge closer ties," said Anwar at a joint press conference following a meeting with Luxon.
The New Zealand Prime Minister is on an official visit to Malaysia, his first since taking office in November last year.
Luxon said New Zealand considers Malaysia one of its oldest friends, having supported the country during the aftermath of a terrorist attack at a mosque in Christchurch in 2019.
He said he wanted to visit Malaysia in his first year in office as "there is room to accomplish so much more together."
"With our strategic partnership, Prime Minister Anwar and I agreed to inject more momentum into our collaboration," he said.
Luxon also said New Zealand and Malaysia would look into expanding defence cooperation and enhancing collaboration on transnational crime, counter-terrorism, and countering violent extremism.
"We also discussed ways to strengthen our education and youth exchanges so the next generation of Kiwis and Malaysians can enjoy the same close relations we have today," he added.
