LETTERS: Australia and Malaysia are natural friends and partners with a long history of collaboration over 70 years of diplomatic relations. But our trading links with Southeast Asia date back much further.
Hundreds of years ago seafarers from the region travelled to Northern Australia to trade with our First Nations people. And over time, Australia and Malaysia have taken significant steps together to increase our economic cooperation.
It’s more important than ever that we work together to maintain the rules-based trading system, and continue to invest in our mutual economic resilience.
As Asean’s first Dialogue Partner, and a Comprehensive Strategic Partner, we are committed to working together for free, fair and open trade.
Aligned with Malaysia’s Asean Chair year theme of inclusivity and sustainability, we are working with the region to drive regional stability and foster shared economic prosperity.
Asean and Asean-led mechanisms are central to driving regional economic growth and integration and we remain committed to deepening our cooperation through practical initiatives.
Two years ago, Australia launched a blueprint for increasing our two-way trade and investment with Southeast Asia – Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040.
We have seen some positive signs so far. In 2024, two-way trade between Australia and Southeast Asia grew by over RM 16 billion, with record amounts of Australian wheat, beef, seafood, and dairy flowing into the region and Australians importing more from the region.
Our total investment stock in the region grew by nearly RM 5.5 billion between 2023-24, a signal of our long-term commitment and confidence in Southeast Asia’s growth potential.
To date, there has been over RM3 billion in new Australian investment supported under Invested. And we’re working to address mutual priorities – climate change and the green energy transition.
Just last week in Kuala Lumpur, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced two new investments under the Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility – an initiative under Invested – to support Australian investment into the region.
These were a RM480 million equity investment into IFM Investors’ Asia-Pacific Fund and a RM 210 million equity investment to assist Plenary establish a new Southeast Asia PPP platform fund.
These new investments under the Facility underscore the Australian Government’s commitment to bring Australian investment to Southeast Asia, helping to unlock private capital for key public infrastructure and clean energy projects across the region.
But trade and investment are more than numbers. It’s about people, jobs, culture, and shared futures. Even our food tells this story.
Australia’s RM10 billion wheat exports to Southeast Asia help create cherished dishes like laksa and pho to pad thai, pancit, and mi goreng – every bowl is a celebration of culinary heritage and cross-cultural ties.
As these dishes are prepared across the region, we are also enjoying them back in Australia thanks to the more than one million Australians that claim Southeast Asian ancestry.
It’s these connections between our people that drive our economies. Our renowned educational institutions are expanding into the region.
On the sidelines of the Asean Summit, Prime Minister Albanese, announced that Monash University Malaysia would partner with TRX City to deliver a RM2.8 billion local investment for a future campus in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
Since 1998, Monash University Malaysia, the first foreign campus in the country, has grown from 417 students to over 11,000 in 2024. This new campus will increase that number to 22,500, seeking to grow Monash and Malaysia into a regional education hub.
By the end of 2025, Australia will have brought more than 500 businesspeople on 21 business and investment missions across Southeast Asia to build valuable new connections, forge partnerships and foster growth together.
In Malaysia, missions have explored opportunities in the resources and renewable energy sector; agriculture and food; education and skills; and the digital economy.
Our Deal Teams across the region are building pathways for Australian businesses, bringing some of our largest investors to explore the opportunities on offer.
For example, in Malaysia, they are working with leading data centre NextDC, which continues to boost Malaysia’s digital tech capability through its facility in central Kuala Lumpur.
We’ve also seen important work by Lynas Rare Earths, which for over a decade has supplied seven per cent of the world’s rare earths, processing at its facility in Pahang – the largest single rare earth processing facility outside of China.
This year also saw the upgrade of the Agreement Establishing the Asean-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) – Asean’s highest quality Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
With new rules for digital trade, stronger consumer protections, greater services market access and fresh opportunities for small business, the AANZFTA Upgrade unlocks a world of benefits.
AANZFTA, and our other FTAs, strengthen a region that values openness and cooperation, and supports the international rules-based trading system.
We have also improved visa access, reducing red tape and making it easier for Southeast Asian companies to do business in Australia. And through Australia’s new Investor Front Door we are making it quicker and easier for Southeast Asian investors to back big projects in Australia.
We want to bring more investment to Australia, like that of Malaysia’s Gamuda Berhad, which is investing nearly RM2 billion in Australia’s renewable energy sector.
The benefits of collaboration are flowing both ways. By prioritising rules, resilience and our relationships we will continue to strengthen our economies and communities – because greater economic engagement benefits us all.
DANIELLE HEINECKE
Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
