I AM delighted to visit Malaysia once again. It is always heart-warming to be in this brotherly country with which we enjoy vibrant relations through a positive agenda.
His Excellency Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob's visit to Turkiye last month confirmed our mutual commitment to further advance our relations in every possible field, and revealed the longstanding and promising nature of our cooperation.
During the said visit, His Excellency President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ismail Sabri decided to elevate our bilateral relations to the level of "Comprehensive strategic partnership".
I hope that with my visit, we will pave new avenues of cooperation and strengthen existing ones.
Turkiye as a sectoral dialogue partner of Asean and in line with its "Asia Anew" initiative, aims at fully realising opportunities with the Asian countries.
To this end, Malaysia, with its key position in its region and within Asean, has a special place in our ties with the continent.
Last year, despite the pandemic, our bilateral trade volume increased significantly and reached US$3.54 billion.
We endeavour to achieve our trade volume target of US$5 billion soon and realise our mutual commitment in fulfilling the considerable potential in trade and elevate it to greater levels.
I believe that post-Covid recovery of our economies and the expansion of our bilateral free trade agreement to include services, investments and e-commerce will also be instrumental in achieving our targets.
As we also observe the increasingly complex global security environment, defence industry stands out as a promising field for cooperation.
In that regard, mutual investment opportunities have the potential to create an increased impetus in our economic ties.
We are willing to work together in a wide range of areas, including security and defence, economy, trade and investment, education, health, tourism and culture. Turkiye has always been one of the most popular tourism destinations for Malaysians.
Since we enjoy shared values and strong people-to-people ties, I believe that diversifying our cooperation will benefit both countries and be cherished by our brotherly peoples.
We share a similar vision on many issues ranging from the problems of ummah to international and regional challenges.
I am pleased to observe that the leaderships of both Turkiye and Malaysia are well aware that in today's globalised world, even regional problems have global impacts.
Solutions for them can only be achieved through multilateral engagement and a comprehensive framework.
Furthermore, the changing dynamics of our respective regions and beyond, require like-minded partners to cooperate and collaborate more than ever.
Bearing these in mind, we attach importance to deepening our cooperation with Malaysia in regional and international organisations as well.
I believe that Turkiye and Malaysia can contribute significantly to solving regional and global problems by working together at multilateral fora.
The unprecedented challenge posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and regional crises with global ramifications, such as the war in Ukraine, reminded us once again the importance of multilateral cooperation.
We are committed to address challenges by utilising every platform and are ready to take the necessary initiatives, from ensuring food security to sharing our Covid-19 vaccine Turkovac, as well as the technology and know-how behind it.
All in all, Turkiye continues to do its part and remains resolute to collaborate with friends and partners like Malaysia.
In conclusion, despite being separated geographically, our countries remain closely connected by common values and objectives.
Therefore, I am confident that Turkiye and Malaysia will further deepen their multi-dimensional relationship in the coming years by drawing upon the strength and support of their people.
The writer is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkiye