Malaysia-Turkey to collaborate to develop Covid-19 vaccine

Malaysia is prepared to collaborate with Turkey to develop a Covid-19 vaccine and related medicines, prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin said.

Muhyiddin said he and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan also agreed to fully utilise the strength of the two countries in combating the spread of the coronavirus and facing the challenges post-Covid-19.

“Yesterday, I received a telephone call from His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey. I have expressed Malaysia’s sympathy and solidarity over the high number of cases and deaths due to Covid-19 recorded in Turkey.

“I also shared Malaysia’s experience in handling the Covid-19 outbreak including the implementation of several series of movement control order (MCO) since March 18, which resulted in the declining number of infections and deaths, with the recovery rate now surpassing 80 percent,” he said in a posting on his official Facebook page today.

Muhyiddin (above) said he also discussed with the president the efforts to strengthen existing bilateral ties and cooperation in various fields including trade, investment, tourism, higher education, medical, and defence technology.

The prime minister said Erdogan also mentioned the big role Malaysia played in the fight for the Palestinian people.

“Turkey also called on Malaysia to remain active at the international level, including to strongly reject Israel’s unilateral actions against Palestine, including the annexation of Palestinian land.

“I also reiterated Malaysia’s commitment to continue working with any country with a common objective, that is supporting the Palestinians’ struggle to be free from Israeli occupation and realising their aspiration of a free Palestinian state.

“We ended our 30-minute conversation with both sides agreeing that all bilateral cooperation initiatives should be resumed once the Covid-19 pandemic ends,” he added.

- Bernama