Guinea Bissau President Embalo given official welcome
PUTRAJAYA: President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who is on a three-day official visit to Malaysia, was accorded an official welcoming ceremony at the Perdana Putra Complex here today.
Embalo, who arrived yesterday, is making his first visit to Malaysia since assuming office in February 2020.
Upon his arrival at 9 am, he was warmly received by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the venue.
The ceremony began with the playing of the national anthems of Guinea-Bissau and Malaysia.
Embalo then inspected a guard of honour mounted by three officers and 103 members of the First Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment (Ceremonial), led by Major Mohamad Waqiyudin Abd Rahman.
Also present were Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, Transport Minister Anthony Loke, senior government officials and diplomats.
Following the ceremonial protocols, President Embalo signed the guest book before proceeding to a bilateral meeting with Anwar, where discussions particular focus on trade and investment, agriculture, education and capacity building.
Both leaders are also expected to exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.
Malaysia and Guinea-Bissau established diplomatic relations in November 1974.
Bilateral ties between the two nations remain cordial, underpinned by a shared commitment to cooperation on bilateral and multilateral platforms, including the United Nations (UN), the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
In 2024, Malaysia's total trade with Guinea-Bissau amounted to RM4.1 million, with exports to Guinea-Bissau valued at RM4.04 million and imports at RM0.06 million.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Netanyahu sees ‘opportunities' to free Gaza hostages
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his country's 'victory' over Iran in their 12-day war had created 'opportunities', including for freeing hostages held in Gaza. 'Many opportunities have opened up now following this victory. First of all, to rescue the hostages,' Netanyahu said in an address to officers of the security services. 'Of course, we will also have to solve the Gaza issue, to defeat Hamas, but I estimate that we will achieve both goals,' he added, referring to his country's campaign to crush the Palestinian militant group. In a statement late Sunday, the main group representing hostages' families welcomed 'the fact that after 20 months, the return of the hostages has finally been designated as the top priority by the prime minister'. 'This is a very important statement that must translate into a single comprehensive deal to bring back all 50 hostages and end the fighting in Gaza,' the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said. Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages during Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Of these, 49 are still believed to be held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Hamas also holds the body of an Israeli soldier killed there in 2014. The forum called for the hostages' 'release, not rescue'. 'The only way to free them all is through a comprehensive deal and an end to the fighting, without rescue operations that endanger both the hostages and (Israeli) soldiers.' The October 7 attack triggered a fierce Israeli offensive to destroy Hamas and free the hostages. That campaign has killed at least 56,500 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable. Hamas's attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
Malaysia should act on this definitive legal report on Palestine
IN mid-2023, the United Nations quietly released one of the most consequential legal studies on the Question of Palestine in recent history. Unlike the usual stream of resolutions and policy statements, this was no ordinary publication. It was a formal legal study – one of only a handful ever commissioned by the UN – produced by leading international legal scholars. Its findings were sharp, direct, and unambiguous. And almost immediately, it was buried. Buried, I believe, not for irrelevance but because of its clarity. It was too precise. Too damning. Too actionable. Billed as RM9.73 for the 1st month then RM13.90 thereafters. RM12.33/month RM8.63/month Billed as RM103.60 for the 1st year then RM148 thereafters. Free Trial For new subscribers only
The Star
14 hours ago
- The Star
UN agency pushes AI ethics standards as US-China tech rivalry deepens
A United Nations agency is rallying policymakers, non-government organisations and academics to support its ethics guidelines on artificial intelligence (AI) at a time when the technology is rapidly changing the world. Unesco, the 194-member UN heritage agency that produced the world's first – and so far only – global AI ethics standards four years ago, hosted a forum in Bangkok this week to drive the adoption of its recommendations. However, there is a long way to go before the recommendations could be turned into a universal, actionable framework amid an intensifying AI race between the US and China, according to analysts. At the opening on Wednesday of the third Unesco Global Forum on the Ethics of AI, Unesco director general Audrey Azoulay called for collaboration among governments, businesses and civil society to come up with an international solution. 'That is what Unesco is working to provide – preparing the world for AI and preparing AI for the world, ensuring it serves the common good,' she said. The message comes as hopes are dimming for a global consensus on AI ethics. A bipartisan group of US lawmakers introduced a bill in both chambers of Congress to ban the federal use of China-linked AI tools such as DeepSeek, in the latest sign of hostility in the tech rivalry between the world's two largest economies. Meanwhile, the world's largest AI companies, from US-based OpenAI and Google to China's DeepSeek, were absent from the forum, which attracted more than 1,000 participants and 35 government ministers, mainly from Asia-Pacific, Africa and Latin America. When asked how other countries would respond to the divisions in the AI world, Wisit Wisitsora-At, Permanent Secretary at the Thai Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, said Thailand would not take sides in the US-China competition, adding that it would try to develop its own AI ecosystem. Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who is facing political pressure at home over a leaked phone call with Cambodian strongman Hun Sen, delivered a speech in English, listing her country's AI development goals, including 90,000 AI professionals and over US$15 billion in spending for AI infrastructure. With the noticeable absence of American and Chinese government delegations at the three-day event – even though the US rejoined the group in 2023 after its withdrawal during the first Trump administration – the forum provided a stage for policymakers from the Asean region and 'global south' countries, from Malaysia and Indonesia to Zambia and Zimbabwe, to voice their ambitions, concerns and priorities in coping with AI. Irakli Khodeli, the head of ethics at Unesco's AI unit, said in an interview on Thursday that different countries had their own priorities for now, with some highlighting 'security' while others were aiming for 'access to AI'. A key aim of the gathering was to discuss the 'readiness assessment methodology', a tool to turn the UN body's AI ethics recommendations into policy actions. The assessment includes a questionnaire for governments, asking questions such as, 'Is there a specific consideration for the impact of AI on land and water use?'. More than 70 countries have taken part in the methodology. 'It is not a talk shop, it is a workshop for members to exchange notes,' Khodeli said of the event. At the gathering, some participants publicly outlined the challenges faced in applying ethics guardrails to AI development. Rachel Adams, founding CEO of the Global Centre on AI Governance, a non-profit organisation in South Africa, and author of The New Empire of AI: The Future of Global Inequality , said many civil society groups were having funding problems since US President Donald Trump shut down the United States Agency for International Development. During a panel discussion at the event, Zeng Yi, dean of the Beijing Institute of AI Safety and Governance and a professor with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said it was not difficult for countries to agree on terminologies such as transparency, but it was much harder to translate them into actual measures on the ground. Unesco sponsored the South China Morning Post's trip to the Bangkok event. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
