LANGKAWI: Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan agreed to visit the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA ’23).

The arrival of His Majesty and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi at approximately 12 noon, was welcomed by the Minister of Defense, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and the Regent of Pahang Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.

Upon arriving at the Mahsuri International Exhibition Center (MIEC), Al-Sultan Abdullah and Sheikh Khaled agreed to visit the Gading Marine Fast Inspector Craft G200 MKII and the local aerospace company, Gading Group, while listening to an explanation of the company’s operations.

Al-Sultan Abdullah and Sheikh Khaled also visited several other companies such as Sapura Secured Technologies, Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd and the military armament and related technology company from the UAE, The Edge Group.

Al-Sultan Abdullah then together with Sheikh Khaled who is also the Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, witnessed the air show performance of various countries, including the aerobatic team from the UAE, Al-Fursan.

Al-Fursan meaning ‘The Knights’, which flies in a formation of seven Aermacchi MB339A jet trainer aircraft, was established in early 2010 and the team’s first public appearance was on 20 January 2010.

Sheikh Khaled, who is on a four-day special visit to Malaysia since May 21, also visited the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at the Istana Negara yesterday and held a meeting with the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim earlier.

The UAE is Malaysia’s second largest trading partner, second largest export destination and second largest import destination from the West Asian region.

Sheikh Khaled’s special visit is expected to further strengthen the long-standing good relationship between Malaysia and the UAE which was upgraded to a Strategic Partnership on 27 September 2022.

This biennial LIMA event which is themed “Asia’s Maritime and Aerospace Trade Contact Points” was attended by more than 525 exhibitors, including 140 companies from the defense industry, 101 commercial sector companies and 284 companies involved in both sectors.