Leaders of Malaysia and Brunei have expressed their satisfaction with the progress in bilateral cooperation.

Duringthe 18th Annual Leaders' Consultation held in Kuala Lumpur on November3, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Sultan of Brunei HassanalBolkiah welcomed the progress in implementing the 2009 Exchange ofLetters, paving the way for the bilateral strategic partnership.

Ina joint statement issued on the same day, the two leaders welcomed theongoing discussions to put into operation the provision of the Exchangeof Letters relating to maritime access.

They reaffirmed theircommitment to maritime cooperation and urged the officials of bothcountries to continue discussions towards increasing collaboration inthe area with a view to having a memorandum of understanding in maritimecooperation.

The two leaders reiterated the importance ofstrengthening cooperation in the agriculture, information, technology,communication and taxation sectors.

They acknowledged thesteadfast cooperation between Malaysia’s oil company Petronas and Bruneioil company PetroleumBRUNEI, and reiterated their commitment toenhancing economic cooperation between Malaysia's states of Sabah andSarawak and Brunei.

They encouraged the two countries’ privatesectors to continue collaboration in promoting bilateral trade andinvestment cooperation to deepen regional economic integration towardsthe realisation the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.

Thetwo leaders also welcomed the progress in demarcating borderline in landwhile calling on the joint technical group for more efforts in thework.

Malaysia and Brunei agreed to hold the 19th Annual Leaders’ Consultation in Brunei next year.
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah began his three-day working visit to Malaysia from November 3.-VNA