London, Oct 28 -Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor arrived here early Sunday morning from Kuala Lumpur to attend the 9th World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF), to be held from Oct 29 to Oct 31 at Excel London.
He was received at the Luton airport by the Malaysian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Datuk Seri Zakaria Sulong and his wife Datin Seri Hazizah Ahmad.
Najib, who is on a working visit to Manchester and London from Oct 27 to Oct 31, is the patron of the WIEF Foundation.
Later, upon ariving at the hotel, Najib and Rosmah were welcomed by several government officers who are based in London as well as the Malaysian delegation participating in the forum.
The ninth edition of WIEF with the theme “Changing World, New Relationships” will see the prime minister delivering a keynote address at the opening ceremony on October 29 as well as hosting a Leaders Luncheon later that day.
Apart from Najib, about 16 leaders including head of states and governments have confirmed their participation at the forum including United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei as well as Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
WIEF, which is held for the first time outside Muslim countries, would set a new direction as interest are high among the non-Muslim community to venture into new business opportunities with their Muslim counterparts.
More than 1,800 participants comprising chief executive officers, academic scholars, regional experts, policymakers as well as business leaders from more than 120 countries have confirmed their attendance.
Najib is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Cameron on the same day, which will likely see more possible collaboration in many areas of cooperation between the two countries.
Previously, Malaysia and the United Kingdom have agreed to achieve a trade target of RM26 billion by 2016.
Last year, bilateral trade between the two countries totalled RM13.74 billion.
Up to July this year, total trade was RM8.2 billion.
– Bernama
