“The centre can help more than 70,000 Muslims and Malays to gather and conduct various activities such as learning the Malay language,” he told Malaysian journalists at the end of his two-day visit to the South Asian country.

Earlier,  Zahid met representatives and members of the Sri Lanka branch of the Malay World Islamic World (DMDI) based in Malacca.

He said DMDI Sri Lanka had sought the assistance of the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) and the Malaysian Ministry of Education to teach Bahasa Melayu to Malays in Sri Lanka.

He also said that he would discuss with DBP, Gapena (the Federation of National Writers Associations of Malaysia) and other associations on how to assist Sri Lankan Malays, such as by sending Bahasa Melayu teachers over.

“They are determined to study Malay and revive the language and Malay culture. I am confident this can be done … I will also help them in a personal capacity,” he said.

Zahid said the Malays in Sri Lanka had originated from Malaysia.

He said many of them were engaged in business and strived to become middle-income earners who could contribute to national development and the development of the language and Islam.