PUTRAJAYA: Australia’s Foreign Minister Senator Marise Payne (pic) is on a three-day working visit to Malaysia.

       She arrived here yesterday where she will attend the fourth Malaysia-Australia Annual Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AFMM).

       According to a statement from the Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah and Payne will co-chair the meeting today.

       This is the first AFMM after the prime ministers of Malaysia and Australia had launched the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) on Jan 27 this year.

       During the visit, she is also scheduled to hold meetings with Senior Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

       “Malaysia and Australia are close and important partners. The visit will provide an opportunity for both sides to consolidate the multi-faceted relations, particularly under the CSP framework covering such areas as trade and investment, education, tourism, defence, people-to-people ties, as well as post-Covid-19 cooperation,” it said.

       According to Bernama, the visit would be held in full compliance with the prevailing Covid-19 standard operating procedure in Malaysia.