CAIRO: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim arrived here today for a two-day working visit to Egypt.
The special aircraft carrying the Prime Minister and his delegation landed at the Cairo International Airport (Presidential Lounge) at 8:16pm local time (1:16am, today, Malaysian time).
Anwar was accompanied by Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir.
On arrival, the Prime Minister was greeted by Egypt's Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Mohamed El-Quseir, Malaysia's Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister, Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan, Malaysian Ambassador to Egypt, Zamani Ismail, and Malaysian officials in Cairo.
late last night, Anwar was scheduled to attend a meet-and-greet session with the Malaysian diaspora and students in Egypt.
Today (October 23), Anwar is scheduled to have an audience with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at the Al Ittihadiya Palace.
The Prime Minister is also scheduled to pay a courtesy call to the Grand Imam of al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayyeb before departing for Kuala Lumpur.
This is Anwar's first visit to Egypt and first meeting with El-Sisi since he was appointed as Prime Minister in November last year.
Earlier last night, Anwar concluded his two-day working visit to Turkiye where he had a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan where both leaders discussed, among others, growing concerns regarding the Israel-Palestine issue.
On Saturday, Anwar concluded his two-day working visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where he attended the Asean-Gulf Cooperation Council (Asean-GCC) Summit, which was held for the first time since the two regional blocs established relations in 1990.
Egypt is Malaysia's third largest trading partner in Africa with a trade value of US$1.08 billion (RM5.15 billion) last year, an increase of 24.8 per cent compared to 2021.
Malaysia and Egypt established diplomatic relations on November 10, 1959. – Bernama