KUALA LUMPUR: The foreign ministry said it was transferring Malaysian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Wan Zaidi Wan Abdullah, ahead of an official visit by Najib Razak to the country this weekend.

Wisma Putra said it was temporarily assigning an “experienced” officer from Putrajaya to ensure the success of the prime minister’s visit.

Besides Sri Lanka, Najib has also been scheduled to visit the Maldives.

Wisma Putra said Wan Zaidi was now given a role in organising the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which Malaysia will host in April 2020.

“Wan Zaidi will perform the same functions during Malaysia’s successful chairmanship of Asean in 2015. Allied to his own experience, is Sri Lanka, which hosted CHOGM in 2013,” it added.