KUALA LUMPUR - Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah today granted an audience to visiting Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin at the Istana Negara.
Srettha, who arrived at 12.50pm, spent about 30 minutes meeting the King.
Also present were Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Mohamad Alamin, Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Amran Mohamed Zin and Malaysian Ambassador to Thailand Datuk Jojie Samuel.
Srettha is on his maiden visit to the country after being sworn in as Prime Minister on Sept 5.
He is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Malaysia's Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today where both leaders are expected to review the progress of bilateral relations.
Both leaders are also expected to exchange views on bilateral, regional, and international issues of mutual interest.
In 2022, Thailand was Malaysia’s seventh largest trading partner globally and the third largest among the ASEAN member states, with total trade amounting to RM122.03 billion (US$27.75 billion), an increase of 17.9 per cent compared to RM97.55 billion (US$23.54 billion) in 2021.
Meanwhile, in a post on Instagram, Istana Negara said that during the 30-minute meeting, Al-Sultan Abdullah and Srettha touched on efforts to strengthen the existing bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields.
His Majesty also congratulated Srettha on his appointment as the 30th Prime Minister of Thailand.
"His Majesty also expressed his grief over the recent shooting incident at the Siam Paragon shopping mall in Bangkok that claimed two lives and injured five others," according to the post.
On Oct 3, a 14-year-old boy was arrested shortly after the shooting rampage at the busy mall. - BERNAMA