BERLIN — Malaysia and Italy have agreed to initiate a strategic partnership in the field of defence, including a proposed government-to-government (G2G) memorandum of understanding (MoU) on asset procurement.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said his bilateral meeting with Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto yesterday, held on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Ministerial 2025 here, marked the first engagement of its kind.He said the meeting was initiated at Italy’s request, signalling its interest in deepening defence ties with Malaysia.“Malaysia welcomes Italy’s intention and sees it as an opportunity to enhance defence relations not only through asset procurement, but also through strategic cooperation, including technology transfer that truly benefits the development of our local defence industry,” he said when met here.