US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Malaysia this week for a series of high-level regional meetings and bilateral engagements, marking his first trip to Asia since assuming office earlier this year.

According to a statement on the US State Department’s official website, Rubio will travel to Kuala Lumpur from July 8 to 12 and is scheduled to attend the Asean-United States Post-Ministerial Conference, East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and Asean Regional Forum (ARF) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, taking place from Thursday.

He is also expected to hold discussions with senior Malaysian government officials during the visit.