KUALA LUMPUR: The governor-general of New Zealand Dame Cindy Kiro who arrived in Malaysia on Sunday for a four-day state visit at the invitation of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, met Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, here today.
The Prime Minister who arrived at the hotel at about 2.40 pm spent about 30 minutes with Kiro who was accompanied by her husband Dr Richard Davies.
Also present were Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, who is also minister-in-attendance, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and Foreign Ministry’s chief secretary Datuk Seri Amran Mohamed Zin as well as Malaysian High Commissioner to New Zealand, Mazita Marzuki.
The New Zealand delegation in attendance comprised the New Zealand High Commissioner to Malaysia Pam Chong Dunn and her deputy Sharmila Bernau.
This is Kiro’s maiden visit to Malaysia and the South-East Asian region since assuming office on Oct 21, 2021.
The last state visit by a governor-general of New Zealand was by Dame Patsy Reddy on Dec 5-8, 2017.
New Zealand is the second biggest trading partner for Malaysia in the Pacific region with total trade between the two nations recorded at RM6.32bil (US$1.42 bln) as of June this year, an increase of 15.3 per ent from RM5.48 billion (US$1.27 bln) recorded in the corresponding period in 2022. – BERNAMA
