Official website of the President of Russia

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At the meeting, bilateral cooperation in various fields was discussed, particularly in trade, aviation and outer space.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Prime Minister, colleagues,

I am very happy to see you in Vladivostok.

We are developing very kind, good, constructive relations with your nation. Earlier, it was due to the support of your nation specifically that Russia became an observer in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Since then, we have been developing constructive relations in all areas, including our economic relations.

Unfortunately, last year, we observed some decrease in volume, but overall, we have still seen positive trends. I am referring to such areas as cooperation in air and space: with our support, the first Malaysian astronaut went into space. I am also referring to prospects for cooperation in aviation and other areas.

We are very happy to see you. Welcome, Mr Prime Minister.

Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak: Thank you very much, Mr President, for your very warm hospitality and your very positive words of encouragement.

First of all, I would like to congratulate Your Excellency for your appointment as President of the Russian Federation. Once again, congratulations for hosting APEC, and congratulations for your accession to the World Trade Organisation. So many congratulations in order.

I share with Your Excellency that our bilateral relations are based on very strong footing. They are very constructive relations spanning many years. You rightly said that with your assistance, we put our first man into space, and we have entered into some very important defence procurement with your country. I oversaw those practices when I was defence minister, especially the last one, with the purchase of the Sukhoi Su-30MKM – that equipment is serving us well. But the time has come for us to broaden the relationship and to look into new areas of cooperative relationship with you.

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