The initiative to found a committee came from the Malaysian foreign minister, who expressed his belief that such a body would encourage both countries' private sectors to intensify economic ties.

Anifah's opinion was echoed by Erjavec, who pointed to Slovenia's excellent geostrategic position as a gateway to Central and Eastern Europe.

He expressed the belief that the countries could cooperate in many fields, including biomedicine, energy, telecommunications and high technologies.

On the other side, the Malaysian foreign minister also stressed the strategic position of his country.

As a member of the Association of SE Asian Nations, which comprises over 600m people, Malaysia could represent Slovenia's springboard to the region as well as a distribution centre to boost commerce, Anifah said after the meeting.

Both ministers also stressed the long-term friendly relations between the countries.

Erjavec noted Malaysia's support for Slovenia's candidacy for membership of the UN Human Rights Council in 2016-2018, while Slovenia backed Malaysia's bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for the 2015-2016 term.