Thailand rolls out red carpet for PM Ismail Sabri

Ismail Sabri was accorded an official welcome at the Government House where he was greeted on arrival by his Thai counterpart Prayuth Chan o-cha.

The national anthems of Malaysia and Thailand were played before he was accompanied by Prayuth to inspect a guard of honour.

Later, the two leaders also will hold a restricted meeting to discuss bilateral ties, economic cooperation in various fields as well as regional and international issues to further strengthen ties.

After the meeting, Ismail Sabri will proceed to sign the Government Guest Book.

The two prime ministers are scheduled to hold a joint press conference after the restricted meeting.

Later, Ismail Sabri will attend an official dinner hosted by Prayuth at Government House.

Ismail Sabri arrived in Bangkok last night to begin his inaugural visit to Thailand after being sworn in as Malaysia's ninth prime minister in August, 2021.

His three-day visit is part of his familiarisation tour of Southeast Asia. He had earlier visited Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and Cambodia.

Thailand remains as Malaysia's sixth biggest trading partner in the world and the second largest in ASEAN. Malaysia is Thailand's fourth largest trading partner in the world.

Two-way trade between Malaysia and Thailand increased by 23 per cent to RM97.97 billion in 2021 from RM79.63 billion in 2020.