KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysia's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday left for official visits to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in his second official trip abroad since assuming office on March 1 last year.
His only official overseas trip before this was to Indonesia on Feb 4 and 5, when he met President Joko Widodo.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin will be making a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia, where he will meet King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
He will be performing the umrah pilgrimage to Mecca and will also visit Medina, Islam's second holiest city, before holding meetings with the Saudi ruler and his son.
Mr Muhyiddin, in a post on his Facebook, said the visit was at the invitation of King Salman.
From Tuesday, he will be visiting the UAE for an unspecified number of days.
There, he will meet the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as well as the UAE Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Abu Dhabi and Dubai are two of the seven kingdoms of the UAE.
Mr Muhyiddin is accompanied by a small delegation that includes Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
Datuk Seri Hishammuddin went on an official visit to Saudi Arabia on Feb 18, where he said the two countries have finalised talks to establish a high-level strategic committee to hold regular consultations on issues of mutual interest, New Straits Times daily reported.
Mr Hishammuddin also went on a working visit to the UAE on Feb 8.
Mr Muhyiddin said that during his visit to Saudi Arabia, he will be discussing various efforts to strengthen bilateral ties and explore new cooperation in trade, investment and Islamic affairs, including matters on the haj quota and umrah pilgrimage, Bernama news agency reported.
In the UAE, he is set to discuss issues such as the setting up of an international food security coalition to boost resilience in the global food supply chains and cooperation in the halal food industry, Bernama said.
Malaysia's Foreign Ministry said that the delegation will be subjected to strict Covid-19 prevention protocols as agreed with both the Saudi and UAE authorities.
