Malaysia PM Anwar in Singapore for leaders’ retreat with PM Lee

MALAYSIAN Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is making a two-day visit to Singapore from Sunday (Oct 29) to attend the Singapore-Malaysia Leaders’ Retreat at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in a statement.

The annual leaders’ retreat is a key platform for the two prime ministers to discuss bilateral issues and explore new areas of cooperation, the ministry said.

This will be the 10th such retreat since the first back in 2007. The annual event was paused during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the last one was hosted by Malaysia in Putrajaya in April 2019.

Anwar, who is also finance minister, is attending the retreat for the first time since he was sworn in as Malaysia’s 10th prime minister in November 2022.

This will be the 76-year-old’s third visit to Singapore this year. In January, he made his first official visit to Singapore, which culminated in the signing of three agreements on the digital economy, green economy and cybersecurity. And in September, he was in town again to speak at the Milken Institute Asia Summit.

On Monday, Anwar will call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the Istana before meeting PM Lee.

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Both leaders and their delegations will meet for bilateral discussions and witness the signing of bilateral agreements on key areas of cooperation, MFA said.

Anwar will be accompanied by a high-level delegation that includes Minister of Foreign Affairs Zambry Abdul Kadir, Minister of Transport Anthony Loke, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Zafrul Aziz, and Minister of Economic Affairs Rafizi Ramli. The premier of Sarawak, the chief minister of Johor and the attorney-general are also in the delegation.

PM Lee’s delegation of 10 ministers and the attorney-general includes Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan and Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam.

Singapore and Malaysia are each other’s second-largest trading partners. In 2021 and 2022, trade between the two South-east Asian neighbours grew by more than S$30 billion – an increase of close to 40 per cent.