Malaysian Prime Minister to visit Sri Lanka next week

Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak is to visit Sri Lanka next week, the Malaysian Foreign Ministry said.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka from 17 to 19 December 2017. He will depart for Maldives thereafter.

Meanwhile the Malaysian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Wan Zaidi Wan Abdullah has been reassigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs prior to the visit of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak.

Wan Zaidi’s movement has been planned for. The Malaysian Foreign Ministry said that he is due to take up an important assignment related to Malaysia’s chairmanship of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), due to be held in April 2020.

Given the scale of the CHOGM, which will involve 52 countries, early preparations are essential for it to be a success. Wan Zaidi performed the same functions during Malaysia’s successful chairmanship of ASEAN in 2015.  Allied to his own experience, is Sri Lanka, which hosted CHOGM in 2013.

An experienced officer from Wisma Putra has been assigned temporarily to Sri Lanka and Maldives, to ensure the success of the Prime Minister’s visits to both countries.  Malaysia enjoys warm and deep relations with Sri Lanka and Maldives, and the visits are expected to strengthen these ties. (Colombo Gazette)