KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is welcoming Saudi Arabia to leverage the country's position as the ideal gateway for the kingdom's enterprises to penetrate the ASEAN market as well as the larger Asian market through the mega Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which comprises 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

"This would be particularly strategic in view of the recently launched Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) of which, Malaysia is a partner country," it said in a statement in conjunction with a courtesy call to Senior Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali from Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his delegation in Putrajaya today.

It said during the meeting, both Malaysia and the kingdom reaffirmed commitments to strengthen bilateral trade and investment relations to greater heights.

The ministry said Malaysia also further welcomed Prince Faisal's highlighting the possibility of establishing a Malaysia-Gulf Cooperation Council trade agreement towards greater economic integration between Malaysia and Gulf members.

It said drawing shared aspirations between Malaysia's National Investment Aspirations and the kingdom's 2030 Vision, Azmin welcomed Saudi businesses to explore trade and investment opportunities with Malaysian companies, particularly in high-tech manufacturing projects and emerging industries.

"In this regard, both parties concurred on the imperative of the businesses being led by the private sector," it said.

In 2021, Saudi Arabia was Malaysia's second-largest trading partner, third-largest export destination and the largest source of imports among West Asian nations.

Malaysia achieved a total trade of RM17.56 billion with Saudi Arabia in 2021 and, as of April 2022, had secured a total trade of RM10.42 billion, a marked increase of 98.2 per cent as compared to RM5.26 billion in the corresponding period of 2021.

-- BERNAMA