President Moon Jae-in and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on March 15 agreed to expand bilateral economic cooperation in areas such as finance, infrastructure and agriculture.

President Moon Jae-in and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on March 13 pledged to reach a bilateral free trade agreement and conclude negotiations toward that goal by year’s end.  In a joint news conference at the prime minister’s office in Putrajaya, Malaysia, both leaders said they also discussed boosting cooperation in future vehicles, information technology (IT), smart industries, medicine and the halal market.  President Moon said in his opening statement, "I look forward to the success of Malaysia's Look East Policy and our New Southern Policy, two initiatives that will bring peace and prosperity to the citizens of our global community. Next year will mark 60 years of diplomatic relations between our two countries, and I hope to elevate our relations to the level of a strategic partnership on this occasion."

President Moon Jae-in on March 12 arrived in Malaysia, the second leg of his tour of three member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), for a three-day visit.  He is the first Korean president to visit Malaysia in nine years and his trip comes a year ahead of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between both nations.   His first event was a Hallyu and halal exhibition at 1 Utama Shopping Center, Malaysia’s biggest mall.  Malaysia leads the global market for halal food, which is estimated at USD 2 trillion, and boasts the highest popularity of Hallyu in Asia, according to Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs Yoon Jong-won. The president's trip is thus expected to promote bilateral cooperation to advance into this market.