“We in Malaysia know that Egypt offers many business potentials,” Abdullah said, according to Malaysian news agency Bernama, adding that they will continue to encourage business communities in both countries to explore all these opportunities.

Abdullah highlighted Egypt’s two mega projects of the New Administrative Capital and the Suez Canal Economic Zone, noting that Malaysia has a strong desire to encourage business communities to invest in these areas.

Shoukry and Abdullah discussed exploring new ways to promote trade and strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries, before voicing his country’s desire to reactivate the Egypt-Malaysia Business Council.

A day earlier, Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed called upon all business leaders to seize the opportunities and further expand the Malaysia-Egypt bilateral trade and business collaboration to the next level, according to Malay Mail.

“Last year, Egypt remained our largest trading partner in the North Africa region and has been among Malaysia’s top six largest trading partners in Africa. Bilateral trade increased by 84.4 percent to nearly $1 billion compared to 2020,” Seri Mohamed said on Monday during a networking dinner held on the occasion of Shoukry’s visit.

Shoukry’s current visit to Malaysia is his first stop in an Asian tour that also includes Singapore, Indonesia, and Pakistan, where the Egyptian top diplomat will participate in the 48th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which will be held in Islamabad from 22 to 23 March.

For his part, Shoukry expressed Egypt’s interest in further developing trade and investment relations with Malaysia, citing Malaysia’s success story as a source of inspiration for Egypt and many other developing countries.

“This visit has a special importance for Egypt. It represents a shift in bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries,” Shoukry said during the press conference.

“I look forward to working closely with my brother the foreign minister of Malaysia Abdallah during the upcoming period to achieve the common aspirations of both our countries and pushing forward our bilateral relations on all levels and to meet the aspirations of our two friendly peoples.”

“We look at the Malaysian experiment with great respect, including by studying how Malaysia is aiming to cope with the Fourth Industrial Revolution and to adopt advanced technologies,” Shoukry said.

Earlier today, Shoukry met with Malaysian Minister of Environment and Water Tuan Ibrahim, exchanging views on priority issues relating to the agenda of the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27), which will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh in November of this year, ministry spokesperson Ambassador Ahmed Hafez said.

“I was happy to receive the confirmation that the Malaysian prime minister is interested in participating in this important conference,” Shoukry said during the press conference.

In a separate meeting with Malaysian Minister of Defence Hishammuddin Hussein on the same day, Shoukry discussed ways to bolster Egyptian-Malaysian relations and strengthen ties in many key areas.