Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto revealed Tuesday that he would head to Malaysia to meet the neighbor’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim after attending the D-8 Cairo Summit.

Prabowo is now en route to the Egyptian capital to meet fellow leaders of the Developing-8 or D-8 economies. The D-8 is a group that brings together 8 developing economies who are all part of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). They are Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkiye. 

Shortly before departing for Cairo, Prabowo said he would wrap up his trip with an official visit to Malaysia.

“I will be attending the D-8 Summit [in Cairo]. … After meeting some businessmen there, I will head to Malaysia for a meeting with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim ,” Prabowo told the press.

He will also meet his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo.

Prabowo and Anwar seem to have close ties. Prabowo traveled to Malaysia to see Anwar when he was still the president-elect and defense minister in September. Anwar was also among the world leaders who attended Prabowo’s inauguration ceremony in late October. 

Kuala Lumpur is set to be at the helm of ASEAN in 2025. It is expected the upcoming bilateral talks will touch on Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship. The Myanmar political crisis still persists, undoubtedly making it one of the major challenges that Malaysia has to deal with, just like the groups’ past chairs. ASEAN also aims to conclude the negotiations of its regional digital economy framework agreement by next year. Indonesia chaired the ASEAN grouping in 2023.

Government data shows Indonesia-Malaysia trade totaled $19 billion in January-October. The two neighbors are also the world’s largest palm oil producers. Both have made a strong vocal opposition against the European Union’s anti-deforestation law that could hinder market access for their palm oil.  

Earlier this year, Anwar said that he was on board with Prabowo’s plans to deploy peacekeeping troops to the war-torn Gaza if requested by the UN.