Malaysia–Vietnam relations
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Malaysia–Vietnam relations date to at least the 15th century. Malaysia forged diplomatic ties with the modern-day Vietnamese state on 30 March 1973; , these ties are still in existence. During the late 1970s and 1980s, the countries' relationship became strained as a result of the
Cambodian–Vietnamese War The Cambodian–Vietnamese War ( km, សង្គ្រាមកម្ពុជា-វៀតណាម, vi, Chiến tranh Campuchia–Việt Nam), known in Vietnam as the Counter-offensive on the Southwestern border ( vi, Chiến dịch Phản ...
and the influx of Vietnamese boat people into Malaysia. The subsequent resolution of these issues saw the cultivation of strong trade and economic ties, and bilateral trade between the countries grew strongly, with an expansion into areas including
information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
, education and defence. Both countries are members of
APEC The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
and
ASEAN 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 ...
. Vietnam and Malaysia share a
maritime border A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of the Earth's water surface areas using physiographic or geopolitical criteria. As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources,VLIZ Maritime Bound ...
in the
Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in l ...
and the
South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
, and have overlapping claims in the Spratly Islands. Both have an embassy located in the other's capital; Vietnam has an embassy in
Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...
, and Malaysia has an embassy in
Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
and a consulate office in
Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...
. Historical records show that Vietnamese people have visited states and Sultanates comprising modern-day Malaysia in small numbers since the 18th century, and Malaysia is currently home to a large Vietnamese expatriate community consisting of migrant workers, mail order brides and students, numbering around 100,000 people.Lourdes Charles
Hanoi offers to help in criminal probes involving Vietnamese
16 May 2009,
The Star (Malaysia) ''The Star'' () is an English-language newspaper in Malaysia. Based in Petaling Jaya, it was established in 1971 as a regional newspaper in Penang. It is the largest paid English newspaper in terms of circulation in Malaysia, according to the A ...
, retrieved 24 September 2013
Vietnam also hosts a small Malaysian expatriate community, consisting mostly of businessmen based in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.


History


Early contacts (7th to 18th century)

The earliest record of historic contact between present-day Malaysia and Vietnam dates back to 7th century, when according to the
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
's annals, Buddhist monks from northern Vietnam ventured to the Malay peninsula during their trips to India. In 767,
Srivijaya Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th t ...
or Javanese fleets invaded northern Vietnam.
Champa Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...
and Malay kingdoms through out the Medieval age often maintained close contact. The earliest record of diplomatic contact between the Viet state and Malaysia is dated back to 1469, when soldiers of Vietnamese
Dai Viet Dai may refer to: Names * Dai (given name), a Welsh or Japanese masculine given name * Dai (surname) (戴), a Chinese surname Places and regimes * Dai Commandery, a commandery of the state of Zhao and in early imperial China * Dai County, in Xinz ...
kingdom had captured a Malaccan tributary mission en route to the Chinese
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
, killing some of them, and castrating and enslaving the survivors. Dai Viet expressed their intent to conquer
Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...
by naval force at the time; this intent was conveyed to the Chinese emperor in a later mission in 1481. The Chinese emperor ordered Malacca to raise soldiers in the event of a similar attack and pressured Vietnam to not take a naval expedition to Malacca. Malaccan auxiliaries defeated the Vietnamese during a battle in Lan Xang as reported in a Chinese account. The
Malay Annals The ''Malay Annals'' (Malay: ''Sejarah Melayu'', Jawi: سجاره ملايو), originally titled ''Sulalatus Salatin'' (''Genealogy of Kings''), is a literary work that gives a romanticised history of the origin, evolution and demise of the gr ...
also mention a Cham prince taking some of his followers to form a small Cham colony in Malacca when Vietnam invaded Champa in 1471, and deploying military assistance to
Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan ...
to fend off a botched military conquest in the 1590s. In the mid 17th-century, the Cham vassal states
Panduranga Vithoba, also known as Vi(t)thal(a) and Panduranga, is a Hindu deity predominantly worshipped in the Indian state of Maharashtra and Karnataka. He is generally considered as a manifestation of the god Vishnu, or his avatar Krishna. Vithoba is o ...
and
Kelantan Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode"). Kelantan is located in the ...
cultivated close diplomatic ties when they led a long-term diplomatic mission to Kelantan to learn more about Malay culture and Islam. Subsequent Champa kings after Po Rome, beginning with his son Po Saut, periodically received Malay Muslim missionaries from Kelantan in the 17th and 18th centuries.


British colonial era (18th to mid-20th century)

Not long after
Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...
was established as a port by the British at the end of the 18th century, Vietnamese
junks A junk (Chinese: 船, ''chuán'') is a type of Chinese sailing ship with fully battened sails. There are two types of junk in China: northern junk, which developed from Chinese river boats, and southern junk, which developed from Austronesian ...
began to visit the area for trade at the instruction of the Vietnamese emperor in Hue. An early account in the late 1790s showed
Nguyen Anh Gia Long ( (''North''), ('' South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh, was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam. His dynasty would rule the unif ...
's (who became Emperor Gia Long) merchant ship docking in Penang carrying cargoes of sugarcane en route to India. Soldiers referred to Penang in its Sino-Vietnamese terminology, Tân Lang dữ (
Chinese character Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the Written Chinese, writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are k ...
: 檳榔嶼); a royal narrative in 1810 showed the Vietnamese began to refer to Penang as ''Cù lao Cau'', meaning Palm Island. Vietnamese Catholics travelled to Penang for seminary studies from the 1840s; these included illuminary
Pétrus Ky Petrus may refer to: People * Petrus (given name) * Petrus (surname) * Petrus Borel, pen name of Joseph-Pierre Borel d'Hauterive (1809–1859), French Romantic writer * Petrus Brovka, pen name of Pyotr Ustinovich Brovka (1905–1980), Soviet Belar ...
. ethnic Chinese from
Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; vi, Đàng Trong (17th century - 18th century, Việt Nam (1802-1831), Đại Nam (1831-1862), Nam Kỳ (1862-1945); km, កូសាំងស៊ីន, Kosăngsin; french: Cochinchine; ) is a historical exony ...
sailed to the east in the Sultanate of Terengganu to trade in poultry and rice; some also settled there and assimilated with the local Chinese. In the late 1920s and early 1930s,
Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as ('Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as Prime ...
played a key role in facilitating the formation of the Nanyang Communist Party—later renamed the Malayan Communist Party (MCP)—and visited Malaya on several occasions, such as presiding over a ceremony to mark the formation of the Malayan Communist Party in Buloh Kasap, Johor, in April 1930. Ho Chi Minh's influence on the MCP paved the way for Lai Teck, who was also of Vietnamese origin, to be appointed as the MCP's Secretary General between 1934 and 1938. Collaboration and communications between the MCP and the Vietnamese Communists increased following Lai Teck's disappearance in the late 1940s; the MCP briefly facilitated the shipping and transport of light ammunitions to the
Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...
around this time. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, both the Viet Minh and
Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army The Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) was a communist guerrilla army that resisted the Japanese occupation of Malaya from 1941 to 1945. Composed mainly of ethnic Chinese guerrilla fighters, the MPAJA was the largest anti-Japanese res ...
(MPAJA) opposed the Japanese invasion of French Indochina and
Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
. Closer ties between communist cadres from Malaya and Vietnam were forged following successful efforts by the Communist victory at Dien Bien Phu in 1954; the Viet Minh provided small-scale logistical and communication support and training to the MCP in the 1950s and 1960s.


Vietnamese refugees (1975 to 2005)

In May 1975, shortly after the Fall of Saigon at the end of the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
, the first Vietnamese refugees arrived in Malaysia, and the first boat that arrived carried 47 refugees.Last Vietnamese boat refugee leaves Malaysia
30 August 2005,
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...
, retrieved 17 September 2013
Until 1978, more Vietnamese fled their country, and many of them were of Chinese descent. According to Malaysian government statistics, the country hosted 19,000 refugees in November 1978, compared to 500 in 1977.A. R. Dea
Navigating boat people away from Third World
p. 4, 6 September 1988,
New Straits Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as ''The Straits Times'' on 15 July 1845. It was relaunched as the ' ...
, retrieved 19 September 2013
The Malaysian government responded by directing its Home Ministry to set up Federal Task Force VII in 1978, which was tasked with limiting the rising number of refugees from landing in Malaysia. The press reported incidents of Malaysian police and army personnel turning away the refugees, but some refugees resorted to deliberately sinking their boats to gain admittance to Malaysia. When the government was informed of boat-sinking attempts made by the refugees, then
Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...
Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...
announced in June 1979 that legislation would be introduced to empower the police and navy to shoot refugees attempting to land. Mahathir's superior,
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Hussein Onn Tun Hussein bin Dato' Onn ( ms, حسين بن عون, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 12 February 1922 – 29 May 1990) was a Malaysian lawyer and politician who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Malaysia from the death of his predece ...
quickly recanted Mahathir's shooting threat. The first Vietnamese refugee camp was opened in Pulau Bidong in August 1978 with
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
assistance; the island accommodated up to 25,000 refugees. Other refugee camps were set up at Pulau Tengah, Pulau Besar, Kota Bharu,
Kuantan Kuantan ( Jawi: ) is a city and the state capital of Pahang, Malaysia. It is located near the mouth of the Kuantan River. Kuantan is the 18th largest city in Malaysia based on 2010 population, and the largest city in the East Coast of Penin ...
,
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 ...
and
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 ...
. In 1982, a transit centre was established at Sungei Besi, where refugees awaiting deportation to Western countries that were willing to accept them would be housed. The number of Vietnamese refugee arrivals fluctuated between 1981 and 1983, before a period of significant decrease from 1984 to 1986. In 1987, Malaysia and other neighbouring countries saw a sudden increase in the number of Vietnamese refugees landing in Malaysia. At an
ASEAN 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 ...
summit in June 1987, member countries chastised the Vietnamese government for not having sufficiently addressed the refugee problem. In August 1988, Malaysia and Vietnam jointly proposed an involuntary repatriation agreement, which provided for Vietnamese refugees that failed to gain admittance to Western countries to be counselled to return to Vietnam. A few Vietnamese government delegations were deployed to conduct outreach sessions at some of the refugee camps. This arrangement was considered unsuccessful because less than 40 individuals registered for the voluntary repatriation programme between 1988 and 1989.Wisma Putra Officials to meet Hanoi officials on boat people problem
p. 1, 15 January 1990, New Straits Times, retrieved 18 September 2013
Reason for thorough screening of refugees
p. 5, 2 August 1990, New Straits Times, retrieved 18 September 2013
A deadline was set for 14 March 1989, whereby all Vietnamese who arrived before that date would automatically be considered refugees and all refugees arriving after that date would undergo a screening process to assess whether they qualified for refugee status.Faezah, Ismai
Nothing like home for boat people
p. 23/30, 14 March 1992, New Straits Times, retrieved 19 September 2013
The screening process was proposed by the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...
(UNHCR) in June 1988; it involved thorough background checks on arrivals to determine whether they qualify for refugee status to be sent to any Western countries that were willing to accept them. Within 10 months, 4,000 of 9,000 refugees were sent to Western countries. In the same period, an additional 11,000 refugees arrived in Malaysia. The implementation of stringent rules that require Vietnamese arrivals to qualify for refugee status prompted some of them to opt for the voluntary repatriation programme; between 1,000 and 2,000 arrivals to Malaysia returned to Vietnam in 1989. Refugees who opted to return to Vietnam were provided with a monthly stipend for up to one year by the UNHCR. In the early 1990s, as Vietnam began to experience economic growth, the number of refugee arrivals to Malaysia dropped. Joint collaborations between Malaysia, Vietnam and UNHCR to address the problem enabled Malaysia to reduce the size of its Vietnamese refugee populace, facilitating the closure of the Pulau Bidong refugee camp in November 1991. 3,000 Vietnamese refugees participated in the voluntary repatriation programme, and Malaysia's refugee populace reduced to 6,000 by 1994. Most of the remaining arrivals were not able to pass the UNHCR screening process and were classified as illegal immigrants. The majority of them expressed their reluctance to be repatriated to Vietnam; demonstrations and rioting broke out when news of the camp's impending closure was announced in 1995. Sungei Besi refugee camp was later closed in June 1996. The last refugees returned to Vietnam in 2005.


Diplomatic ties

Malaysia established diplomatic ties with North Vietnam on 31 March 1973 at the ambassadorial level after the
Paris Peace Accords The Paris Peace Accords, () officially titled the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam (''Hiệp định về chấm dứt chiến tranh, lập lại hòa bình ở Việt Nam''), was a peace treaty signed on January 27, 1 ...
were signed that year. An agreement between the ambassadors of Malaysia and Vietnam was reached in 1975. The following year, Malaysia first opened its embassy in Hanoi, while Vietnam also opened its embassy in Kuala Lumpur on 29 May 1976. In the mid to late 1970s, bilateral ties were strained as Malaysia pressured Vietnam to embrace the ZOPFAN concept, which the latter interpreted as a version of the anti-communist
containment Containment was a geopolitical strategic foreign policy pursued by the United States during the Cold War to prevent the spread of communism after the end of World War II. The name was loosely related to the term ''cordon sanitaire'', which was ...
policy.Azmi M Anshar
Towards normalising relations with Vietnam
p. 10, 7 September 1988, New Straits Times, retrieved 19 September 2013
During a bilateral summit in August 1977, Malaysia's Prime Minister
Hussein Onn Tun Hussein bin Dato' Onn ( ms, حسين بن عون, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 12 February 1922 – 29 May 1990) was a Malaysian lawyer and politician who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Malaysia from the death of his predece ...
made promises to provide economic and technical assistance to rebuild Vietnam's war-torn economy. When Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1979, many Vietnamese sought refuge in Malaysia from that time onwards and into the 1980s, and caused economic and national security problems to Malaysia especially to its racial balance as most of the Vietnamese refugees resemble the Chinese people. Bilateral ties normalised from 1988 onwards, when Vietnam announced plans to withdraw from Cambodia. In the early 1990s, government leaders of both countries held several diplomatic visits and summits, which produced many agreements that emphasised economic co-operation and development.Hanoi seeks closer ties with KL
p. 23, 23 March 1994, New Straits Times, retrieved 20 September 2013
Strengthening ties also saw the opening of a consulate office in Ho Chi Minh City in January 1991.Embassy of Malaysia - Hanoi - Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia, retrieved 23 September 2013
Vietnam expressed its interest in joining
ASEAN 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 ...
with Malaysia's support in 1994 as the countries continued to foster close economic ties. Vietnam joined ASEAN in 1995; its entry was warmly welcomed by Malaysia. In the 1990s, bilateral ties were characterised by trade and economic co-operation; other areas of bilateral co-operation were explored from 2000 onwards. In that year, Vietnam and Malaysia reached an agreement on bilateral efforts on law enforcement and suppressing the trans-national drug trade. In 2004, three Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) in the areas of information technology, education and diplomatic ties, and co-operation-in-general were signed. Bilateral co-operation between both countries was also extended to defence matters in 2008 when another MoU was signed, which proposed for joint military trainings and collaboration in the defence industry between the Malaysian and Vietnamese militaries. The MoU also provided for the navies of both countries to prevent Vietnamese fishermen from encroaching into Malaysian waters for fishing activities as well as to control piracy.


Relations with South Vietnam (1959 to 1975)

Relations with the former state of
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
were established when South Vietnam recognised the
Federation of Malaya The Federation of Malaya ( ms, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu; Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of what previously had been British Malaya comprising eleven states (nine Malay states and two of the British Empire, British Straits Settlements, P ...
's independence on 1957. From that point, Malaya provided aid to the South Vietnamese regime in its fight against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese army. Malayan Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman made a first visit on 1958 which was reciprocated twice by the South Vietnamese President
Ngô Đình Diệm Ngô Đình Diệm ( or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician. He was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955), and then served as the first president of South Vietnam (Republic of ...
on 28–31 January 1958 and in October 1961. By 1963, when Malaya transformed into Malaysia (with an additional territory in the island of
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 ...
), the main government in
Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...
worried the influence of North Vietnamese communists would threaten its existence in accordance to the Domino theory, thus changing its position to become very supportive of the American involvement in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
as Malaysia had also experienced a communist insurgency of its own. Tunku Abdul Rahman then expressed these concerns in December 1966 and called on the United States and the United Kingdom to provide increased logistical support to war efforts in Vietnam. Malaysia hosted training courses in public administration and jungle warfare for government officials, and provided motorcycles to bolster the South Vietnamese police and military logistical capabilities. Towards the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, Malaysia closed its embassy in Saigon in two stages; first it withdrew the embassy dependants on 12 April 1975, before a complete closure 16 days later—two days before the fall of Saigon. Malaysia had also extended recognition to the short-lived Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam within days of its formation in May 1975, citing Malaysia's impartial position on political ideology and social system.


Embassy

The Embassy of Malaysia in Hanoi is currently located at 43-45 Dien Bien Phu Street, where it has been located since 2004. Malaysia also has a Consular Office in Ho Chi Minh City that was opened in 1991, and its executive functions were later upgraded to that of Consular-General one year later. The Malaysian embassy in Hanoi has shifted three times since 1976: * Thong Nhat Hotel (later renamed
Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi is a five-star historic luxury hotel, opened in 1901 as Grand Métropole Hotel in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. It is today one of the most important buildings of Vietnam in French colonial style. The hotel today h ...
), 1976–1983 * Van Phuc Diplomatic Compound, 1983–1984 * Fortuna Hotel Hanoi, 1984–2004 The Vietnamese embassy in Kuala Lumpur is located at 4 Persiaran Stonor and was opened in 1976 through the acquisition of the former South Vietnamese embassy. The Vietnamese embassy also has separate offices catering to labour and defence matters in two separate locations within Kuala Lumpur set up in the 2000s. In February 2013, the Vietnamese embassy secured the purchase of of land in Precinct 15,
Putrajaya Putrajaya (), officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya), is a planned capital city which functions as the administrative capital and the judicial capital of Malaysia. The seat of the federal government ...
, that would be used for the construction and subsequent relocation of the Vietnamese embassy.


Economy and trade

Bilateral trade between Malaysia and Vietnam stood at following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Within the first three years after the war, Malaysia proposed to extend economic and technical assistance to Vietnam's oil palm and rubber industries. Malaysia exported zinc to Vietnam and signed a contract that would facilitate the import of Vietnamese vegetables into Malaysia. These early co-operations and proposals ended following Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia in 1979. Economic co-operation slowly resumed from 1988, when bilateral trade between the countries stood at $50 million. In 1990, bilateral trade increased to $140 million and to $235 million in 1991. Around this time, Malaysian businessmen began to open hotels in Vung Tau to cater to its flourishing tourism industry. At a bilateral summit in 1992, both countries agreed on the idea of joint oil and gas exploration; Vietnam has a sizeable number of oil fields in the
South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
. Around this time, Malaysian statuory boards and government-linked companies including
Bank Negara The Central Bank of Malaysia (BNM; ms, Bank Negara Malaysia) is the Malaysian central bank. Established on 26 January 1959 as the Central Bank of Malaya (''Bank Negara Tanah Melayu''), its main purpose is to issue currency, act as banker and ad ...
, MIDAS and
Petronas Petroliam Nasional Berhad (National Petroleum Limited), commonly known as Petronas, is a Malaysian oil and gas company. Established in 1974 and wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with all oil and gas reso ...
started to provide technical assistance programmes to Vietnam. Vietnam also sought Malaysia's assistance to develop its banking sector; Malaysia's Public Bank formed joint ventures with VID bank (later BIDV bank) to open branches in
Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
and
Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...
between 1993 and 1994. By 1994, Malaysia became ASEAN's second largest investor in Vietnam. Exports from Vietnam to Malaysia mainly consisted of rice, rubber, oil seeds and machinery, while Malaysia exported machinery, equipment and chemicals mainly derived from the former's economic assistance to the country. Malaysian businessmen were responsible for the development of the An Don Export Processing Zone beginning in 1994 in Danang. At an
APEC The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
meeting in 1994, Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad spoke of the belief that Malaysia did not need to be totally self-reliant in food, and expressed his interest in procuring some food from Vietnam as a means of strengthening economic ties. Two years later, Malaysian-made
Proton Wira The Proton Wira (Malay, "hero") is a car manufactured by Malaysian carmaker Proton from 1993 to 2009. It was produced in four-door saloon and five-door hatchback models, and is based on the Mitsubishi Lancer platform. History Development of ...
cars were first sold in Vietnam. A joint commission meeting between the countries in 1996 brought skilled and semi-skilled workers entering Vietnam from Malaysia from that time onwards. Between 2002 and 2003, the first wave of Vietnamese workers arrived in Malaysia to provide labour for its expanding manufacturing sector. By 2003, there were 67,000 Vietnamese workers in Malaysia; both countries signed a memorandum of understanding exempting unskilled Vietnamese workers from needing a sufficient grasp of English or the
Malay language Malay (; ms, Bahasa Melayu, links=no, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Rejang script, Rencong: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spo ...
to qualify for employment. The number of Vietnamese work permit holders increased slightly to 80,000-90,000 by 2011; their presence later extended to other sectors including construction, housekeeping, agriculture and the service sector. A few Vietnamese workers found employment in Chinese restaurants as waiters, and learnt to speak some
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
as well. In 2015, Malaysia was the largest ASEAN's investor in Vietnam with total pledges of US$2.47 billion. Malaysia and Vietnam have signed a joint statement on strategic partnership in economic matters along with a memorandum of understanding on joint patrol, hotline contact, search and rescue co-ordination, and piracy prevention in the South China Sea. There is also a Malaysia Business Chamber in Vietnam. In 2019, Vietnam ambassador to Malaysia Lê Quý Quỳnh said at a business conference in Kuala Lumpur on July that they are targeting to raise bilateral trade between the two countries to US$25 billion by 2025. Both countries had signed an agreement on five-year action programme from 2015 until 2020, aiming to lift bilateral trade turnover to US$15 billion by 2020. A joint statement was issued in the same year with both agreed to increase political, economic, security co-operation and work together to maintain peace in the South China Sea.


Social developments

A sizeable number of Malaysian men have foreign wives, especially Vietnamese women. Accounts of such marriages first surfaced in the 1990s, but in the 2000s these marriages became especially popular with older Chinese Malaysian men. A thriving matchmaking industry in which prospective grooms could select Vietnamese brides based on road shows and profiling methods has developed. Malaysian spouses cited the inability to find a local spouse because of career commitments and cultural affinity between Chinese Malaysians and Vietnamese as their main motivations for finding a Vietnamese wife. Such unions have faced considerable issues, such as language barriers, cases in which wives abandon their Malaysian spouses and take their mixed-race children back to Vietnam, and extortion. A Chinese community leader, Michael Chong, said the key reason for runaway Vietnamese brides was their inability to adapt to Malaysian life and society, and that many of the women married to escape poverty in their homeland. Malaysia is home to almost 100,000 Vietnamese nationals, mostly concentrated in the industrial hubs in the
West Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...
n states of Penang,
Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...
,
Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...
and Johor. Vietnamese migrant workers have occasionally been mistreated by employers, and have faced overcrowded dormitories, salary deductions and physical abuse at work. A sizeable number of crimes in Malaysia, including robbery, rape, murder, and prostitution, have been attributed to the Vietnamese community. In 2008, the then Inspector-General of the Malaysian police
Musa Hassan Musa bin Hassan (born 13 September 1951) is a retired Malaysian police officer who has served as one of the member of the Board of Directors of the Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) since May 2020. His appointment is set to last for 3 year ...
, said the Malaysian police had handled more than 200 cases of crimes involving the Vietnamese community in 2008. Vietnamese women are common in the Malaysian prostitution trade, Malaysian clients have attributed their popularity to their alluring physique and good hospitality practices. Some Vietnamese prostitutes have reportedly resorted to registering false student passes or false marriages with local men to gain employment in this trade; many were forced into prostitution after being tricked by unscrupulous agents promising them employment as waitresses or factory workers in Malaysia.Rashitha A. Hami
Police nab 2,878 prostitutes; many are duped foreigners
20 March 2009, The Star (Malaysia), retrieved 23 September 2013


See also

* Vietnamese people in Malaysia


References


Footnotes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Malaysia-Vietnam relations
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
Bilateral relations of Vietnam