Leaders of Malaysia and Brunei have expressed their satisfaction with the progress in bilateral cooperation.

During the 18th Annual Leaders' Consultation held in Kuala Lumpur on November 3, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah welcomed the progress in implementing the 2009 Exchange of Letters, paving the way for the bilateral strategic partnership.

In a joint statement issued on the same day, the two leaders welcomed the ongoing discussions to put into operation the provision of the Exchange of Letters relating to maritime access.

They reaffirmed their commitment to maritime cooperation and urged the officials of both countries to continue discussions towards increasing collaboration in the area with a view to having a memorandum of understanding in maritime cooperation.

The two leaders reiterated the importance of strengthening cooperation in the agriculture, information, technology, communication and taxation sectors.

They acknowledged the steadfast cooperation between Malaysia’s oil company Petronas and Brunei oil company PetroleumBRUNEI, and reiterated their commitment to enhancing economic cooperation between Malaysia's states of Sabah and Sarawak and Brunei.

They encouraged the two countries’ private sectors to continue collaboration in promoting bilateral trade and investment cooperation to deepen regional economic integration towards the realisation the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.

The two leaders also welcomed the progress in demarcating borderline in land while calling on the joint technical group for more efforts in the work.

Malaysia and Brunei agreed to hold the 19th Annual Leaders’ Consultation in Brunei next year.
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah began his three-day working visit to Malaysia from November 3.-VNA