He made this observation when Minister Laksman Kiriella called on his Malaysian counterpart on the sidelines of the Special Session of the Association Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) Assembly held in Kuala Lumpur.

Minister Kiriella conveying the greetings of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to the Malaysian government, expressed the new government's desire to strengthen relations with Malaysia. Minister Kiriella briefed his counterpart on the 100 programme of the new government and recent legislation enacted in Parliament. The Minister proposed a MOU to be signed between the two countries for cooperation in the plantation sector and both Ministers agreed to explore possibility to sign a MoU during the next Joint Commission Meeting in Colombo later in the year.

Minister Laksman Kiriella led the Sri Lanka delegation to the Special Session of the Association Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) Assembly at Ministerial level which was held in Kuala Lumpur from 7-8 May 2015. He successfully concluded his official visit to Malaysia on 11th May. The meeting was attended by Ministers of Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Senior Officials from India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Philippines. The ANRPC meeting was chaired by YB Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities of Malaysia. Mr. Anura Jayawickrama, Secretary of the Ministry of Plantation, Mr. R.B. Premadasa, Director General of Rubber Department of Sri Lanka and Mr. S.D. Kalansooriya, Coordinating Secretary of the Minister also participated at the ANRPC meeting.