Ahmad Zahid's Working Visit To Turkiye Strengthens Diplomacy, Explores New Opportunities

From Siti Nurhana Shafirah Mat Nazir

ISTANBUL, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s four-day working visit to Turkiye, which ended on Nov 8, has translated close Malaysia-Turkiye ties into high-impact strategic cooperation.

Anchored by his participation in the TRT World Forum 2026 at the Istanbul Congress Centre (ICC) on Nov 6, the visit served as an important platform for Malaysia to articulate its stance on global geopolitics and explore fresh opportunities in defence, education, trade, and human capital development.

Speaking at a panel session titled "Turkiye From Regional Power to Multi-Regional Actor", Ahmad Zahid highlighted the Malaysia-Turkiye defence cooperation agenda, which covers technology transfer and expertise sharing, alongside expanding economic, educational, and diplomatic synergies for regional stability.

On the sidelines of the forum, Ahmad Zahid paid a courtesy call on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss bilateral relations, including the target to increase two-way trade from US$5.51 billion in 2025 to US$10 billion by 2030.

The meeting also covered expanding cooperation in investments, defence, technology transfer, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), the halal industry, and disaster management. Both leaders also exchanged views on developments in Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria, stressing civilian protection and humanitarian aid access.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also Rural and Regional Development Minister, reaffirmed Malaysia's commitment as the country coordinator for ASEAN-Turkiye relations to strengthen inter-regional strategic partnerships and expand economic and diplomatic reach globally.

In a separate meeting with Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, both sides identified high-value investment opportunities in food and beverage, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), electrical and electronics (E&E), and defence. They also explored cooperation in regional development, sustainable cities, and rural economic empowerment.

The working visit also focused on multilateral diplomacy through the Developing Eight (D-8) Organisation for Economic Cooperation and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), as well as ties with Lebanon during discussions with D-8 Secretary-General Sohail Mahmood and Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Dr Tarek Mitri.

On Nov 7, Malaysia's TVET agenda gained momentum with the signing of Letters of Cooperation (LoC) between Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) institutions - Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) and Universiti Poly-Tech Malaysia (UPTM) - and two Turkish institutions, namely Sabanci University and Yildiz Technical University (YTU).

Through the collaboration with Sabanci University, the Malaysian universities will explore joint bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes, academic curriculum alignment, and doctoral pathways through joint supervision and collaborative research.

Meanwhile, cooperation with YTU will focus on joint research in ship design and model testing, leveraging the university’s wave tank facility for shallow water research with the Malaysian Institute of Marine Engineering Technology (UniKL MIMET).

A roundtable dialogue with Turkish think tank Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) also paved the way for policy research on Southeast Asia-West Asia geopolitics, regional security, and the strategic autonomy of middle powers.

The visit also highlighted maritime industry potential during a meeting with Malaysia's Honorary Consul in Bursa, Datuk Cevdet Sefer, particularly on a proposal to develop a ship maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hub in Bagan Datuk, Perak using Turkish maritime technology.

Concluding his visit, Ahmad Zahid, at a press conference on Sunday, outlined Malaysia’s proposal to revive the International Zakat Organisation (IZO), established in 2008, and reaffirmed support for the D-8 target to increase intra-trade among member states to over US$500 billion by 2030.

Overall, the Deputy Prime Minister’s visit delivered significant value to Malaysia while reinforcing close diplomatic ties established between the two countries since 1964.

-- BERNAMA