The ongoing four-day visit by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz to Kuala Lumpur opens up huge investment opportunities which will help in realizing the goals of Vision 2030, which essentially aims at diversifying sources of income away from oil. Saudi Arabia's relations with Malaysia have witnessed a quantum leap at all levels, particularly in the political and economic domains. They are only expected to become deeper and expand with the visit of King Salman. The visit, the first of its kind in a decade, is also expected to open up new avenues for boosting relations, especially in the commercial sphere. The Saudi-Malaysian relations have seen an upward swing ever since Kuala Lumpur stood by the Kingdom as a strategic ally in the fight to regain the legitimacy of Yemen. Malaysia has joined hands with the Kingdom, along with 20 Arab and Islamic states, to rebuild Yemen. It took part in the North Thunder joint military exercise held in the Kingdom early March, 2016 and has signed a number of agreements with the Kingdom to combat terrorism and drug trafficking. The Kingdom ranks as the 19th trade partner with Malaysia in the world, 23rd in imports from the country, and 17th in exports. The trade exchange between the two countries is estimated to be SR 15 billion, expected to rise to SR 20 billion in the coming period. The Kingdom, represented by the Saudi Development Fund, has offered financial assistance to a number of Malaysian projects, exceeding SR 312 million from 1975 to 2016. The Kingdom is also funding Malaysia in cash and in-kind through UN organizations and specialized agencies, and through other regional bodies. The Kingdom has made great efforts towards bolstering scientific and academic exchanges between the two countries. It has also adopted a number of initiatives to teach Arabic for which it has established an institute admitting 1,000 students annually. It also organizes specialized, professional courses for bank workers and those interested in Islamic banking. The Kingdom offers 70 scholarships annually to Malaysian students to study in Saudi universities. Last year alone, the Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University offered 100 scholarships to Malaysian students. In turn, 1,500 Saudi students are enrolled in various Malaysian universities. In the tourism sector, Malaysia is seeing increasing number of Saudi tourists every year, with the country being the preferred destination for people from the Kingdom.
