Malaysia–New Zealand relations ( ms, Hubungan Malaysia–New Zealand; Jawi: هوبوڠن مليسيا–نيوزيلندا; mi, Ngā whanaungatanga Malaysia-Maori) refers to

foreign relations A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through mu ...

between

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Malaysia has a High Commission in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, and New Zealand has a High Commission in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

. Both countries are full members of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

and Malaysia is important to New Zealand for strategic, political and economic reasons, with both countries' leaders were engaged in frequent visits to boost their relations.

Country comparison

History

Walter Nash & Abdul Razak Hussein in Kuala Lumpur, 1960

Official diplomatic relations between Malaysia and New Zealand has been established since 25 September 1957, with Malaysia remains as one of the oldest partner for New Zealand in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. The

New Zealand Defence Force The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF; mi, Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa, "Line of Defence of New Zealand") are the armed forces of New Zealand. The NZDF is responsible for the protection of the national security of New Zealand and her realm, prom ...

(NZDF) has maintained its presence since the 1950s to fight alongside its allies from the threat of communism in the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...

, Second Malayan Emergency and

Sarawak Communist Insurgency The communist insurgency in Sarawak occurred in Malaysia from 1962 to 1990, and involved the North Kalimantan Communist Party and the Malaysian Government. It was one of the two Communist insurgencies to challenge the former British colony of ...

. Following the path of the formation of the Malaysian federation, the NZDF also defended the

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ms, Tanah Melayu British) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. U ...

and

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

from the Indonesian military infiltration.

Trade and Economic relations

The economic relations between the two countries also underpinned by four free trade agreements, including: * The

Malaysia–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement The Malaysia–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement was signed on 26 October 2009 in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is New Zealand's eighth-largest export destination, reaching almost 8 billion dollars' worth of exports in 2008. It was ratified by the Parliam ...

. * The ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA). * The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). * The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The trade and economic relationship between Malaysia and New Zealand is strong. This is in part because Malaysia occupies an influential position within the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

(ASEAN), and is well-known to New Zealanders. In 2005, Malaysia and New Zealand initiated discussions on a bilateral

free-trade agreement A free-trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating states. There are two types of trade agreements: bilateral and multilateral. Bilateral trade agreements occur ...

. On 6 August 2020 Malaysia and New Zealand completed an Exchange of Letters to amend Article 1 of Annex 3 of the Malaysia New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. The amendment to Annex 3 enterred into force on 1 October 2020. In 2012, Malaysia was New Zealand's eighth-largest trading partner with Malaysia's exports comprising petroleum, computer and television equipment and

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...

worth around NZ$1.84 Billion, while New Zealand exports to Malaysia stood at NZ$888 million, consisting of

dairy products Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are Food product, food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, dairy goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include commo ...

, meat and

scrap metal Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

. A free trade agreement between the two countries was signed on 26 October 2009 in Kuala Lumpur, and enterred into force in August 2010. Many New Zealand companies have a significant presence in Malaysia, primarily in the food, telecommunications and

ICTs Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computers, ...

sectors. The Free Trade Agreement aimed to encourage two-way investment between Malaysia and New Zealand. The total bilateral trade between two countries in 2016 stood at US$1.42 billion with exports amounted to US$730 million, while imports amounted to US$680 million. In 2017, the two countries expressed their interest to expand the collaboration in ICTs and tourism sectors. In the same year, New Zealand economic relations with Malaysia is also being discovered in other areas such as food (mainly dairies products) and beverage sector and both countries announced their intention to fosters stronger business and cultural links between them. A cultural exchange between

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

and the

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

of the Malaysian state of

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

have been held in

Kota Kinabalu , image_skyline = , image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wism ...

. New Zealand welcomed a group of 15 delegates from the Malaysian state of

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

government for a meeting held in April 2019, to share and discuss common indigenous interests and co-operation.

Education relations

Under the

Colombo Plan The Colombo Plan is a regional intergovernmental organization that began operations on 1 July 1951. The organization was conceived at an international conference, The Commonwealth Conference on Foreign Affairs held in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri L ...

, a large numbers of Malaysian students have were given the opportunity to study in New Zealand. New Zealand are working to attract more students from Malaysia as part of the country efforts to promote it as a first choice for foreign study. An arrangement on higher education co-operation was signed between the two countries in 2013. In 2019, further education relations are reinforced between New Zealand and the Malaysian State of Sarawak.

Security relations

New Zealand and Malaysia are both members of the

Five Power Defence Arrangements The Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) are a series of bilateral defence relationships established by a series of multi-lateral agreements between Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, all of which are Commonwe ...

. New Zealand plays a key role in the frequent military exercises between the countries involved.

Incident

In 2014, a Malaysian

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

named Mohammed Rizalman Ismail was arrested by the

New Zealand Police The New Zealand Police ( mi, Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa) is the national police service and principal law enforcement agency of New Zealand, responsible for preventing crime, enhancing public safety, bringing offenders to justice, and maintai ...

and charged with burglary and assault with intent to rape after allegedly following a 21-year-old woman, Tania Billingsley to her home.

References

External links

Malaysia High Commission in Wellington, New Zealand

New Zealand High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malaysia - New Zealand Relations

Bilateral relations of New Zealand