Malaysia–United Kingdom relations are

bilateral Bilateral may refer to any concept including two sides, in particular: *Bilateria, bilateral animals *Bilateralism, the political and cultural relations between two states *Bilateral, occurring on both sides of an organism ( Anatomical terms of l ...

foreign relations Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

between

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Malaysia has a high commission in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and the United Kingdom has a high commission in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

. Both countries are full members of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

History

Colonial period

English traders had been present in Malay waters since the 17th century. Before the mid 19th century, British interests in the region were predominantly economic, with little interest in territorial control. The growth of the

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

trade in British ships increased the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

’s (EIC) desire for bases in the region. Various islands were used for this purpose, with the first permanent acquisition being

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

, which was leased from the

Sultanate of Kedah The Kedah Sultanate () is a Muslim dynasty located in the Malay Peninsula. It was originally an independent state, but became a British protectorate in 1909. Its monarchy was abolished after it was added to the Malayan Union but was restored ...

in 1786. This was followed soon after by the leasing of a block of territory on the mainland opposite Penang (known as

Province Wellesley A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provin ...

). In 1795, during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, the British with the consent of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

occupied

Dutch Malacca Dutch Malacca (1641–1825) was the longest period that Malacca was under foreign control. The Dutch ruled for almost 183 years with intermittent British occupation during the French Revolutionary and later the Napoleonic Wars (1795–1815). ...

to forestall possible French interest in the area. In 1824 British hegemony in Malaya was formalised by the Anglo-Dutch Treaty, which divided the

Malay Archipelago The Malay Archipelago is the archipelago between Mainland Southeast Asia and Australia, and is also called Insulindia or the Indo-Australian Archipelago. The name was taken from the 19th-century European concept of a Malay race, later based ...

between Britain and the Netherlands. The Dutch evacuated Malacca and renounced all interest in Malaya, while the British recognised Dutch rule over the rest of the East Indies. By 1826, the British controlled Penang, Malacca,

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and the island of

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...

, which they established as crown colonies of the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements () were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under control of the ...

, administered first under the EIC until 1867, when they were transferred to the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created in 1768 from the Southern Department to deal with colonial affairs in North America (particularly the Thirteen Colo ...

in London. On the other hand,

White Rajahs The White Rajahs of Sarawak were a hereditary monarchy of the Brooke family, who founded and ruled the Raj of Sarawak as a sovereign state, located on the northwest coast of the island of Borneo in Maritime Southeast Asia, from 1841 to 1946. Of ...

(founded by British adventurer

James Brooke James Brooke (29 April 1803 – 11 June 1868), was a British soldier and adventurer who founded the Raj of Sarawak in Borneo. He ruled as the first White Rajahs, White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868. Brooke was born and ra ...

) ruled the

Raj of Sarawak The Raj of Sarawak, Kingdom of Sarawak or State of Sarawak, was a kingdom founded in 1841 in northwestern Borneo and was in a Protectorate, treaty of protection with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom from 1888. It ...

from 1841 to 1946, while

North Borneo North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, (present-day Sabah). The territory of North Borneo wa ...

was founded by the

North Borneo Chartered Company The North Borneo Chartered Company (NBCC), also known as the British North Borneo Company (BNBC), was a British chartered company formed on 1 November 1881 to administer and exploit the resources of North Borneo (present-day Sabah in Malaysia) ...

. Both Sarawak and North Borneo subsequently became a

British Protectorate British protectorates were protectorates under the jurisdiction of the British government. Many territories which became British protectorates already had local rulers with whom the Crown negotiated through treaty, acknowledging their status wh ...

, and a

Crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by Kingdom of England, England, and then Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English overseas possessions, English and later British Empire. There was usua ...

in 1946. In 1944, the British drew up plans for a

Malayan Union The Malayan Union (; Jawi: كساتوان مالايا) was a union of the Malay states and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. It was the successor to British Malaya and was conceived to unify the Malay Peninsula under a single g ...

, which would unite the Federated and

Unfederated Malay States The "Unfederated Malay States" (; Jawi: ) was the collective name given to five British protected states in the Malay Peninsula during the first half of the 20th century. These states were Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis, and Terengganu. In ...

(except for Singapore), into a single Crown colony, with a view towards independence. It was established in 1946, and was dissolved in 1948 to be replaced by the

Federation of Malaya Malaya, officially the Federation of Malaya, was a country in Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1963. It succeeded the Malayan Union and, before that, British Malaya. It comprised eleven states – nine Malay states and two of the Straits Settleme ...

. The federation became independent from the United Kingdom on 31 August 1957, and joined

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

and

to form a new larger federation known as the Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963. However, in less than two years upon the founding of the federation, Singapore was expelled as a consequence of the

1964 race riots The 1964 race riots in Singapore involved a series of communal race-based civil disturbances and racially-motivated violence between the Malays and Chinese in Singapore following its merger with Malaysia in 16 September 1963, and were co ...

Present

The modern relations between the two countries was conditioned and shaped by British colonial rule in the country from the 19th century until its independence. Since the foundation of the Malaysian Federation, several visits have been made between each other leaders. The

Yang di-Pertuan Agong The King of Malaysia, officially ''Yang di-Pertuan Agong'' ( Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ), is the constitutional monarch and Figurehead, ceremonial head of state of Malaysia. The office was established in 1957, when the Federation of Malaya gained ...

Sultan Abdul Halim of Kedah paid a

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by the head of state, head of a sovereign state, sovereign country (or Governor-general, representative of the head of a sovereign country) to another sovereign country, at the invitation of the head of state (or ...

to the United Kingdom in July 1974. The next Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak paid a state visit to the United Kingdom in November 1993. Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

paid state visits to Malaysia in October 1989 and September 1998.

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom visited Malaysia in the first half of 2012 as part of his Asia tour. Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge visited Malaysia from 13 to 16 September 2012, as part of a nine-day tour through Commonwealth countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific to celebrate

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

's Diamond Jubilee. On 2 November 2017,

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, made an official visit to Malaysia to commemorate the 60th anniversary of bilateral relations between the two countries.

Economic relations

Since 1963, the British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (BMCC) has been providing British businesses with networking, knowledge exchange, trade assistance and support in Malaysia. Malaysia is the UK's second-largest trading partner in

ASEAN The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...

. In 1996, the two countries signed a double taxation agreement. In 2017, the United Kingdom was Malaysia's fourth largest trading country in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU) with annual goods and services trade at £3.34 billion. In April 2017, United Kingdom Secretary of International Trade Dr

Liam Fox Sir Liam Fox (born 22 September 1961) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Defence from 2010 to 2011. A member of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...

said their country affirmed its commitment to increase trade and investment as part of a determined effort to reach out to its trading partners and to reassure that the United Kingdom was open for business beyond

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

after the former triggered

article 50 Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) provides for the possibility of an EU member state leaving the European Union "in accordance with its own constitutional requirements". Currently, the United Kingdom is the only state to hav ...

for the secession from the EU while acknowledging the massive investments by Malaysian companies in the country such as in the

Battersea Power Station Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station located on the south bank of the River Thames in Nine Elms, Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It was built by the London Power Company (LPC) to the design of ...

. The Malaysian side also announced its ready to work with the United Kingdom. In September 2017, the United Kingdom Prime Minister's trade envoy to Malaysia Richard Graham visit Malaysia to promote United Kingdom's education expertise and positioned the country as the overseas investment destination of choice for Malaysian companies and investors, adding that the country has more than doubled its export funds to £5 billion to support two-way trade with Malaysia. In October 2017, the United Kingdom Mega Tech Mission 2017 (comprising 50 leading-edge technology companies) heading to Malaysia to widen business outreach and explore new technology deals with local players. In July 2023, the United Kingdom has signed the agreement to accede to the

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), previously abbreviated as TPP11 or TPP-11 before enlargement, is a trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand ...

, a

trade bloc A trade bloc is a type of intergovernmental agreement, often part of a regional intergovernmental organization, where barriers to trade (tariffs and others) are reduced or eliminated among the participating states. Trade blocs can be stand-alo ...

of which Malaysia is a founding member. This is the first

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 state (polity), states. There are two types of trade agreements: Bilateralism, bilateral and Multilateralism, m ...

between the two countries.

Education relations

The

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

has provided English language mentoring to thousands of local primary school teachers in

East Malaysia East Malaysia (), or the Borneo States, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia on and near the island of Borneo, the world's third-largest island. East Malaysia comprises the states of Sabah, Sarawak, and the Federal Territory ...

under the English Language Teacher Development Project (ELTDP) with the

Malaysian government The Government of Malaysia, officially the Federal Government of Malaysia (; Jawi: ), is based in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya, with the exception of the legislative branch, which is located in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is a federation comp ...

. UK degree-awarding bodies are the main providers of

Transnational Education International education refers to a dynamic concept that involves a journey or movement of people, minds, or ideas across political and cultural frontiers. It is facilitated by the globalization phenomenon, which increasingly erases the constrai ...

(TNE) in Malaysia, with over 50% of all non-local programmes leading to a UK degree. Malaysia is the second-largest host country/region for UK TNE, (and the largest host country if distance-learning and

Oxford Brookes Oxford Brookes University (OBU; formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic) is a public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. The university was na ...

' partnership with ACCA are excluded) , although over the past few years there has been a decrease in TNE student numbers due to consolidation of the existing offer in the context of an increasingly competitive market, a developing local higher education sector and changes in local regulations. Five UK universities have established branch campuses in Malaysia. Three campuses are located in

Iskandar Puteri Iskandar Puteri (formerly known as Nusajaya) is a Cities of Malaysia, city and the administrative capital of the state of Johor, Malaysia. It is situated along the Straits of Johor at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula and the southernmos ...

, Johor: University of Southampton Malaysia Campus, Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia,

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

; while one is located in

Semenyih Semenyih is a town and a mukim in Hulu Langat District in southeastern Selangor, Malaysia along the Kajang–Seremban road. It is southeast of downtown Kuala Lumpur and southeast of Kajang. Etymology The meaning of the name of the town is un ...

, Selangor:

University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus The University of Nottingham Malaysia is a private university branch campus of the University of Nottingham. The university is situated in Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia. The university is rated ‘Competitive’ in the SETARA 2025 rating system ...

; one is located in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya: Heriot-Watt University Malaysia. All these universities are being independently evaluated by UK's

Quality Assurance Agency The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (usually referred to simply as the Quality Assurance Agency or QAA) is the United Kingdom higher education sector's independent expert quality body. It has a remit to maintain and enhance the qu ...

and Malaysia's Malaysian Qualification Agency. There is also emerging interest of British Independent Schools to set up branch campuses or international schools in Malaysia 'to tap into Asia's multi-billion dollar international school market'. As of 2021, three independent schools have established branch campuses in Malaysia. One such campus is Epsom College Malaysia, located in Bandar Enstek. Another such campus is

Marlborough College Malaysia Marlborough College Malaysia (MCM) is a UK-style curriculum boarding international school in Malaysia for boarding and day pupils. The school is the sister school of Marlborough College in Wiltshire, UK. The college comprises a Pre-Preparator ...

, located in

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

had also recently ventured into the Malaysian and Asian

International School International schools are private schools that promote education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterised by a multinational student body an ...

market through the establishment of its campus in

. In August 2022, Concord College announced the construction of Concord College International School in

Sepang Pekan Sepang is a small border town and also a mukim in Sepang District, Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on t ...

, adjacent to the

Xiamen University Malaysia Xiamen University Malaysia (abbreviated as XMUM) is an international branch campus of Xiamen University located in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia. It is the first overseas campus set up by a Chinese public university, as well as the first Chin ...

in Sunsuria City.

Security relations

The United Kingdom maintains relations with Malaysia's

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

and the

Malaysian Armed Forces The Malaysian Armed Forces (: MAF; ; Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ), are the armed forces of Malaysia, consists of three branches; the Malaysian Army, Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The number of MAF active personnel is 113,000 ...

. This relation began during the colonial rule of Malaya and Singapore prior to Malaya's independence in 1957, including the confrontations between the ruling government and communist forces. Malaysia and the United Kingdom are both members of the

Five Powers 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 ...

, since 1971.

Gallery

File:Kundasang Sabah WarMemorial-09.jpg, Memorial for 641 British servicemen who died on the Sandakan Death Marches and at

Ranau Ranau Town () is the capital of the Ranau District in the West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 87,500 in 2023. The federal constituency represented in the Dewan Rakyat is Ranau (federal constituen ...

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

, Malaysia from 1943 to 1945. File:Ranau Sabah LastPowCampMemorial-05.jpg, The Last POW Camp Memorial in Ranau, Sabah, Malaysia dedicated to Australian and British soldiers who died during the tragedy on the Sandakan Death Marches. File:Kundasang War Memorial - 3 flags.jpg, Three flags dedicated to Australian, British and New Zealander soldiers in Kundasang War Memorial, Ranau, Sabah, Malaysia.