TEHRAN (Iran News) – Embassy of Malaysia in Tehran on Thursday in Tehran held a dinner reception at Espinas Hotel of Tehran to host those who have attended Malaysian Technical Cooperation Program (MTCP) courses in Malaysia.
Charge d’Affaires of Malaysia Mohd Nizam Halimi hosted the event and welcomed the guests. Addressing the participants, Mr. Halimi highlighted the purpose of the event which was to promote continuous engagements and foster a long-lasting bond of friendship with all who have attended the MTCP courses.
He added that it is also to establish closer relations and strengthen the networking between the Embassy of Malaysia in Tehran with former MTCP participants, particularly from Iran. He then pointed to the history of MTCP and said that it was launched by the Malaysian government in 1980 and this program stands as proof of the commitment of the government of Malaysia towards the promotion of technical cooperation among developing countries, offering support in areas where Malaysia has the experience and expertise and it sees MTCP fundamental towards strengthening mutually beneficial bilateral relations.
Mr. Halimi went on to say that the MTCP forms part of the strategy and commitment of the Malaysian Government to the promotion of technical cooperation among developing countries, strengthening regional and sub-regional cooperation, and nurturing collective self-reliance among developing countries. He added that MTCP annually offers more than 60 technical training and capacity building programs in various areas such as agriculture, economy, finance and trade, education, environment, industrial technical training, diplomacy, public management and administration, professional services, social development, science, technology and ITC, adding that to-date, close to 411 participants from Iran have benefited from these various programs.
The Malaysian diplomat then pointed to the longstanding and friendly diplomatic relation between the two countries which was established in 1968.He also highlighted the strong ties between Malaysia and Iran which underpinned by mutual interests, friendly people-to-people relations and the fact the MTCP has helped foster greater cooperation between the governmental agencies of the two countries and inspired deeper collaboration between their private sectors. He reiterated that Malaysia is to encourage more future participation from Iranian officials in the MTCP, as it would not only be beneficial to its bilateral relations but will also assist in the career development of the participants.
Mr. Halim then touched upon the trade relation between Kuala Lumpur and Tehran despite sanctions and said that the trade between the two increased to 76.6% in 2021 with the total trade was worth $566.5m. He noted majority of this total volume is contributed by the export of palm oil and palm-oil based agriculture products which account to 73.7% share of the total trade volume.
He then thanked all MTCP alumni members for their commitment to make the MTCP program a success.
Then an Iranian government employee who had attended the MTCP course delivered a speech on behalf of other alumni participants.
Ms. Niloofar Dehghan in her speech hailed Malaysia and expressed her gratitude for such courses and MTCP programs.
