Malaysia, Australia To Meet For Annual Foreign Ministers' Meeting

PUTRAJAYA, March 14 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Australia's foreign ministers will engage in their annual meet here on Wednesday to take stock of the progress of the existing bilateral cooperation. Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, is in Malaysia for a two-day working visit to attend a Foreign Ministers' Meeting with her Malaysian counterpart, Anifah Aman, scheduled for Wednesday. Malaysia's Foreign Ministry in a statement Tuesday said the Foreign Ministers' Meeting was an annual meeting between both foreign ministers under the Malaysia-Australia Strategic Partnership framework. It was announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak and Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Nov 22, 2015, it said. "During the meeting, both ministers are expected to discuss current regional and international issues of mutual concern," said the statement. The Foreign Ministry said since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and Australia 60 years ago, bilateral relations between both countries had grown steadily. "It can be described as broad-based and substantive, with both countries enjoying vibrant cooperative relations in a wide range of sectors including trade and investment, education, security, defence and people-to-people ties," it said. Total bilateral trade between Malaysia and Australia amounted to RM42.35 billion in 2016. -- BERNAMA