Anwar conveyed this during a meeting with Crown Prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh yesterday.

“During the meeting, we touched on various aspects of Malaysia-Saudi Arabia relations that need to be expanded, particularly in the areas of trade and investment, including cooperation in new fields such as artificial intelligence, the green economy, clean energy, and petrochemicals.

“We also exchanged views on regional and international situations of mutual interest,” he said in a Facebook post.

He is optimistic that the close relationship between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia will contribute to the prosperity of the Malaysian people as a whole.

“I also took the opportunity to invite (Mohammed bin Salman) to attend the Asean-GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) Summit in Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

Anwar was in Riyadh yesterday to attend the extraordinary Arab and Islamic summit.

A statement after the summit called on the United Nations Security Council to issue a binding resolution enforcing an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and facilitating urgent access to humanitarian aid.

It also commended “the efforts of Egypt and Qatar, in cooperation with the US, towards reaching a swift and lasting ceasefire in Gaza”, and held Israel accountable for “backtracking on agreements”, Anadolu Agency reported.