The 7th Inter-Parliamentary Meeting Between the Parliament of Malaysia and the European Parliament, 12 November 2009, Brussels

The Honourable Robert Goebbles,

Vice-Chairman of the Delegation of the Southeast Asia/ASEAN Delegation

The Honourable Sen. Dato’ Ir. Wong Foon Meng

President of the Senate of the Malaysian Parliament,

Honourable Members of Parliament,

Ambassador Vincent Piket,

EU Ambassador to Malaysia

Ladies and gentlemen,

On behalf of the Government of Malaysia, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the European Parliament for hosting the 7th Inter-Parliamentary Meeting between the Parliament of Malaysia and the European Parliament in Brussels.

2.                My thanks also goes to the office of the Southeast Asia/ASEAN Delegation at the European Parliament for the excellent cooperation in securing the meetings for the President of the Senate of Malaysia and delegation, to meet with His Excellency Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament and Chairman of other committees at the European Parliament despite their busy schedules.

3.                I hope that the close cooperation between the Embassy of Malaysia and the Southeast Asia / ASEAN delegation at the European Parliament will be further strengthened in the future.

4.                The ratification of Lisbon Treaty by all member states of EU has finally ended the institutional uncertainty surrounding the European Union. The treaty will allow effective EU response in areas where solutions are urgent, such as the financial and economic crisis, climate change and energy. EU’s role at the international level will certainly be further enhanced with the institutional changes.

5.                Malaysia takes note of this new development and looks forward to having closer engagement and relations with the European Union, especially with the new college of Commissioners under the leadership of President Barroso and the new Members of the European Parliament, following the election held on 7 June 2009.

Honourable Members of Parliament,

Ladies and gentlemen,

6.                Allow me to provide you a tour d’horizon of relations between Malaysia and the EU, to date. Malaysia has a long-standing relationship with the EU. At present, bilateral relations are largely dominated by trade and investment.

7.                Cooperation between Malaysia and the European Commission is mainly coordinated through the mechanism of the Senior Official Meeting. The first Malaysia-EC SOM was held in May 2005 in Putrajaya, Malaysia. The Second Malaysia-EC SOM was held in Brussels earlier this year, on 3 February 2009.

8.                The convening of the Malaysia – EC SOM provides the opportunity for a dialogue to enable us to understand each other better through the exchange of ideas on how to enhance bilateral relations. The meeting also enable both sides to exchange views on regional and international issues of common concern to both Malaysia and the EU. It is my hope that such meetings would further deepen our bilateral relations and chart out new directions.

9.                With regard to the Partnership Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between Malaysia and the European Union, Malaysia is still actively considering the matter at the inter-agency level.

10.           Malaysia will announce its intention to enter into formal negotiations on the PCA once the inter-agency level is concluded. On ASEAN-EU FTA, we hope that the stalled ASEAN-EU FTA negotiations could be revived soon.

11.           Malaysia attaches great importance in an enhanced and substantive relationship with the European Union. On the trade front, and according to Malaysia’s statistic total trade with the EU in 2008 amounted to US$ 41 billion, with exports to EU totalling US$ 22.5 billion and import amounting to US$ 18.5 billion. This resulted in a trade surplus of US$ 4 billion in favour of Malaysia.

12.           Malaysia is the 18^th largest import partner for EU. Malaysia also ranks as EU’s 24^th largest export market. Among ASEAN countries, Malaysia remains the second leading destination for EU 27 exports in the period of January-October 2008 (valued at Euro 9.6 billion) as well as the second leading source of EU  27 imports from ASEAN for the same period. (Euro 14.6 billion)

13.           In terms of investment, the EU as a group is also one of the largest investors in Malaysia. In 2008, approved investment from the EU in our manufacturing sector totalled US$3.43 billion as compared to US$2.0 billion in 2007.  For January – June 2009, approved investment in the manufacturing sector amounted to US$253.1 million. Major EU investments were concentrated in petroleum and liquefied natural gas products, electrical and electronic products, chemicals and chemical products and machinery equipment.

14.           The current global financial and economic slowdown demands a deeper understanding and coordinated action between Malaysia and EU.  In general, bilateral trade relations between Malaysia and the EU are harmonious, with minimal trade irritants.  Those arising issues have been tackled and addressed constructively by both sides, through on-going bilateral discussions, as well as through a proper platform of the Malaysia-EC Senior Officials Meeting.

15.           Among on-going bilateral cooperation programmes include administrative cooperation with the EC’s Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), to jointly address anti-fraud cases, in particular through a specific working visit by Malaysian Officials to OLAF, held from 28 September to 2 October 2009. I am pleased to note that such a programme is the first ever conducted with a third country.

16.           Secondly, to further strengthen the fishery control systems in Malaysia and ensure compliance of Malaysian seafood exports to the EU, several joint programmes have been undertaken by the Malaysian authorities and the EC Directorate-General of Health and Consumer (DG SANCO). These include bilateral discussions and a dedicated seminar conducted by DG SANCO on EU Legislations on Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported Fishing (IUUF), held on 18 May 2009 in Kuala Lumpur for competent authorities, private sector associations and exporters. 

17.           Related to this, a Joint Official Working Visit by the Honourable Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry and the Honourable Deputy Minister of Health to Brussels took place from 26-29 October 2009. The programme included meetings with Mr. Robert Madelin, DG SANCO and his officials as well as visits arranged by the Belgian Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC).

18.           On the environmental front, Malaysia is one of the producers of tropical timber currently in discussion with the EU with the view to entering a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) as part of the EU’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan.  Malaysia, as a major exporter of timber and the EU as a major importer share the objective of protecting and managing forests on a sustainable basis and to ensure trade in legal timber only. A VPA will provide assurance that all trade in timber between Malaysia and the EU is from sustainable and legal sources. Such an agreement will prevent proliferation of bilateral initiatives, avoid confusion and help to improve the image of Malaysian timber in the EU market. Next week, the Minister of Plantation Industries & Commodities of Malaysia will be in Brussels to have meetings with officials from EC and EP on biofuel and in particular sustainable palm oil production as well as FLEGT.

19.           Malaysia and EU have also established and continued to work together at both regional and international fora, such as within the ASEAN-EU framework, Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation.   

Honourable Members of Parliament,

Ladies and gentlemen,

20.           Given the current global economic doldrums, Malaysia and the EU must collaboratively undertake sharing of ideas on the way forward, through an enhanced and substantive relationship both at public and private sector levels.  In this context, I am pleased to see the progress made by the Malaysia-Europe Forum, an initiative undertaken by a non-profit organisation to achieve common ground between Malaysia and the EU on matters of mutual interest such as trade, investments, sustainable development and the green agenda as well as to advance global agenda through the engagement with civil society.

21.           The Forum, which aims at building Malaysia-EU communities through non-Governmental Roundtable dialogues, have had two sessions this year, with its Inaugural round held at the European Parliament itself on 30 April 2009. I wish to record once again my sincere appreciation to the Southeast Asia / ASEAN Delegation at the European Parliament for providing the conference facilities for the event, which clearly signifies the importance that the EU attaches to the relations with Malaysia.

22.           I am also pleased to inform that the Prime Minister of Malaysia has officiated the 2nd roundtable of the Malaysia-Europe Forum in Kuala Lumpur today (early this morning – Malaysian time). In his speech, the Prime Minister has outlined the approach towards enhancing Malaysia-EU relations, in light of an expanding and strengthened EU under the Lisbon Treaty. 

23.           Malaysia is aware that while two-way trade remains strong, more needs to be done to further widen and enhance relations by strengthening other linkages. These could include areas such as banking and finance, training, human resources development, education, research and development and the establishment of direct linkages between Malaysian agencies and the respective EU institutions. In short, capacity building through the exchange of information and expertise could encompass a large part of future collaboration.

Honourable Members of Parliament,

Ladies and gentlemen,

24.           Malaysia foresees its relations with the EU not just as exchanges between the business sectors and officials, but also greater interaction between students, academicians, researchers, parliamentarians, artists, media and other groups. Regular exchanges between scholars, intellectuals, and members of the think tanks, could benefit Malaysia and the EU through deeper knowledge and understanding. I mention this because Malaysia and the EU could work closer in addressing religious intolerance and improve understanding among our different cultures. Such a comprehensive exchange would certainly lead to better understanding and closer friendship.

25.           May I end my remarks by underlining that Malaysia and the EU share very similar goals in ensuring the well being of its peoples. I wish to reiterate that Malaysia values its close relations with EU and hope that this meeting will be able to bring both sides closer and would be a platform to take our relations to a higher level. Indeed, the visit of the delegation from the Malaysian Parliament to the European Parliament today is a manifestation of our desire to strengthen bilateral relations between Malaysia and the EU.

Thank you.