PUTRAJAYA: Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan will undertake an official visit to Malaysia for two days, starting tomorrow.
In a statement earlier, Wisma Putra said the visit was at the invitation of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
"The visit will be Imran’s inaugural visit to Malaysia since assuming his post last August.
"The official welcoming ceremony will be held on Wednesday morning at the Perdana Square, here," the statement read.
Wisma Putra also said that during the visit, Dr Mahathir and Imran will hold a bilateral meeting that would provide opportunities for both sides to review the existing relations and cooperation between the two countries as well as identify new areas for future collaboration.
"The visit underlines the significance and importance Malaysia attaches to its relationship with Pakistan.
"It will also be an opportunity for both leaders to exchange views on a range of global and regional issues of common concern.
"Following the bilateral meeting, both leaders will also witness the signing of an Agreement on Partial Abolition of Visa between both the Malaysian and the Pakistani government which will take place in a ceremony at the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday," it added.
The Pakistani prime minister is also scheduled to have an audience with Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah.
He will also visit the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters here, the statement read.
Malaysia and Pakistan enjoy substantive and longstanding bilateral relations in the field of education, tourism, defence cooperation and technical assistance.
Malaysia is optimistic that this visit will provide a new impetus to the bilateral cooperation that would cement and elevate Malaysia and Pakistan relations to a higher level.
In 2017, the total bilateral trade between the two countries was recorded at RM5.76 billion (US dollar 1.34 billion), an increase of 3.5 per cent as compared to 2016.
Pakistan is Malaysia’s third largest trading partner amongst South Asian countries.