KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today received a courtesy call from the Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Dr Nuriddin Ismoilov.

Malaysian Parliament in a statement today said that the courtesy call held at Parliament Building today reciprocated the visit by Anwar to the republic last May.

The statement said that Nuriddin is on an official visit to Malaysia from July 1 to 4, which aims to further strengthen good relations and cooperation in various fields between Malaysia and Uzbekistan.

Earlier, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul, together with members of the Malaysian Parliamentary Friendship Group for Central Asia, also held a bilateral meeting with Nuriddin and his delegation.

The meeting discussed, among others, the importance of intensifying bilateral cooperation and activities between the two countries in the fields of legislative, tourism sector, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), and student exchange.

The meeting also discussed the chairmanship of the Malaysian Parliament in the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) in 2025 where Nuriddin expressed the support of the Uzbekistan Parliament for Malaysia’s aspiration to jointly develop a prosperous ASEAN region.

In April 2023, Johari made an official visit to Tashkent, Uzbekistan as an observer of the constitutional referendum which saw significant constitutional amendments covering reforms to the republic’s social and administrative rights.

The statement also said that Nuriddin and his delegation were also scheduled to meet with Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing and Minister of Higher Education Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir.

The ties between Malaysia and Uzbekistan are not only in the economic field and the administrative branch of the government but also covers the legislative branch between the two countries, it added.