Malaysia hopeful for more UAE coronavirus cooperation after king’s Abu Dhabi visit

Malaysia hopeful for more UAE coronavirus cooperation after king’s Abu Dhabi visit

Tue, 2020-12-22 03:49

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is anticipating more cooperation with the UAE in fighting the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic after its king's visit to Abu Dhabi, officials and experts said.

The Malaysian monarch, Sultan Abdullah, on Friday arrived in the UAE for a five-day visit at the invitation of Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, during which Abu Dhabi donated 500,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to the southeast Asian country.

"Malaysia and the UAE have joined hands to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and for post-COVID-19 recovery,“ Malaysian Royal Household Comptroller Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said in a statement on Friday.

The vaccine donation and the special visit, he added, "reflect a strong and close relationship between the two countries.“

While authorities have not specified which vaccine was donated by the UAE, Kuala Lumpur said it would be used for Phase 3 trials which, if successful, would pave the way for its broader use in the country.

"Even though it is only 500,000 doses the most important criteria are that the doses are a part of the third-phase trial,“ Universiti Teknologi Malaysia geostrategy professor, Azmi Hassan, told Arab News on Monday, adding that it was not the first time the UAE had supported