KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has proposed for more collaboration with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Pavilion at the rescheduled Expo 2020 Dubai, which will now run from Oct 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.

Senior Minister cum the International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said the collaboration could be on areas such as business matching, social programmes, seminar, and exchange of invitation as speakers/audiences.

"These enhanced areas of collaboration are aimed at creating more business opportunities and boosting bilateral relations between the two nations," he said in a statement today.

Mohamed Azmin on Sunday visited the Malaysia Pavilion at the six-month expo as part of the initiatives of the Trade and Investment Mission to the UAE which he is currently leading.

The visit aims to keep abreast with the progress of the pavilion, which is set to attract the participation of 300 Malaysian companies, 5,000 delegates for Malaysia's trade and business programmes, and one million visitors throughout the expo.

The minister said it is essential for Malaysia to put a value proposition, which is able to elevate its advantages in future technology and science, conducive investment and business environment, as well as numerous opportunities in the new and emerging economic sectors such as financial technology, Industry 4.0, eco industrial park and renewable energy.

"Malaysia's participation in the World Expo will be able to highlight these emerging areas to high-value partners from around the world and this is very timely in the current challenging economic context," he said.

Mohamed Azmin said the expo would play a pivotal role in promoting Malaysia's strength as a trade and investment hub for businesses in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) region and beyond.

He said the expo, which would be participated by 192 countries and international organisations, is targeted to attract 25 million visitors during the course of the six-month international fair.

"Given the scale of this most anticipated expo, Malaysian companies can fully leverage the platform to expedite their business recovery due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," he said.

Prior to his visit to the Expo Dubai 2020, Mohamed Azmin called on Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy, the UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation.

"I communicated to His Excellency Reem Ebrahim that it is imperative for UAE to carry out the event despite facing the difficulties caused by the pandemic.

"The expo will definitely serve as an important platform for business opportunities in the face of the global economic slowdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic," he added.

-- BERNAMA