Chapter 2 Country-to-country links

Chapter 2 Country-to-country links

Introduction
Government-to-government interactions
Ministerial visits
Parliamentary delegations
Ministerial forums, officials working groups and MoUs
Australia–Malaysia Institute
Private sector interactions
Australia–Malaysia Business Council
Organisations and individual interactions
Research and education links
Cultural and personal links
Committee comment

 

Introduction

2.1

The links between Australia and Malaysia are multifaceted and occur at many levels—from formal government and Parliamentary relations, through the interactions between organisations, to the informal interactions between individuals. This chapter discusses examples of those interactions which were presented to the Committee. While these examples are not definitive, they do provide a snapshot of the Australia–Malaysia relationship and some of the indicative trends in that relationship.

Government-to-government interactions

Ministerial visits

2.2

Australia–Malaysia relations received a significant boost when in April 2005 the Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Abdullah Badawi, accompanied by a large ministerial delegation, visited Australia. It was the first time in 21 years that a Malaysian Prime Minister had visited Australia and it led to a decision to proceed with negotiations to develop a free trade agreement (FTA).1

2.3

Other Malaysian ministers who undertook formal visits to Australia during 2005 and 2006 were:

2.4

In addition, the Minister of International Trade and Industry, Dato’ Seri Rafidah Aziz visited in August 2006 to attend the Australia–Malaysia Joint Trade Committee and to conduct a series of Malaysia trade promotion seminars.

2.5

Australian ministers who visited Malaysia in 2005 included:

2.6

An outcome of the bilateral visits of agriculture ministers during 2005 was the signing in March 2006 in Canberra of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Enhancement of Agricultural Cooperation. This was followed by a further visit to Malaysia in August 2006 by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Hon. Peter McGauran MP.3

2.7

As well, the Prime Minister, Hon. John Howard MP and the Foreign Minister, Hon. Alexander Downer MP visited Malaysia in December 2005 to attend the East Asia Summit and East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ meeting respectively.4

2.8

The increased emphasis on trade with Malaysia has been reflected by increasing interactions between Australian State and Territory governments with Malaysian State governments.

2.9

The Northern Territory Government advised the Committee that its Chief Minister, Hon. Claire Martin MLA, had led a delegation to the Malaysian State of Sabah. A MoU with Sabah facilitated the placement of Malaysians in Northern Territory training and development programmes. The aim of the MoU was to sustain Northern Territory livestock exports to the region, ‘through the provision of expert advice and training in tropical beef production.’5

2.10

There is also a MoU between the governments of Malaysia and Western Australia on livestock development cooperation which was signed in December 2005. This aimed ‘to encourage and promote trade and bilateral cooperation in the field of livestock development on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.’6

2.11

The South Australian Government too is actively engaging with Malaysia. A submission detailed the visit of a South Australian Trade mission to Malaysia in April 2006, during which the South Australian Minister for Industry and Trade met with his counterpart, Malaysia’s Minister for International Trade and Industry. The visit was reciprocated when the Malaysian minister visited South Australia in August 2006.7

2.12

Advice from the South Australian branch of the Australia-Malaysia Business Council (AMBC) indicated that trade missions to Malaysia were estimated to have brought export sales and inbound investment returns in excess of $25 million.8

 

Parliamentary delegations

2.13

There have been six Parliamentary exchanges between Australia and Malaysia since 2001:

Ministerial forums, officials working groups and MoUs

2.14

A key ministerial forum is the Australia–Malaysia Joint Trade Committee. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) noted that this committee was the longest running bilateral trade dialogue mechanism which Malaysia had with any country. The committee meets annually, alternately in Malaysia and Australia, and is co-chaired by the Australian Minister for Trade and the Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry. The 13th meeting was held in Adelaide in August 2006 during which the Ministers confirmed the commitment to develop a bilateral FTA agreement, and examined potential new areas of cooperation such as groundwater management.10

2.15

Reflecting Australia’s strong agricultural trading interest with Malaysia, a working group of agriculture portfolio officials was established in December 2000. The Malaysia–Australia Agricultural Cooperation Working Group (MAACWG):

… oversees and facilitates regular and comprehensive consultation and cooperation of agriculture, fisheries, agri-food, Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) and operational quarantine matters.11

2.16 MAACWG meets annually and has created sub-working groups on livestock, crops and fisheries. While forestry issues lay outside the portfolio responsibility of the Malaysian agriculture department, the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) advised the Committee that Malaysia had agreed in-principle to discuss forestry issues and cooperation at MAACWG meetings.12
2.17

Australian and Malaysian officials also engage in annual technical discussions concerning plant quarantine and market access issues. Senior officials from Biosecurity Australia and the Crop Protection and Plant Quarantine Division of the Malaysian Department of Agriculture were involved.13

2.18

Besides the two MoUs noted above—for the Enhancement of Agricultural Cooperation; and between the Northern Territory Government and the Malaysian State of Sabah—the Committee was advised of three other government level MoUs between Australia and Malaysia:

 

Australia–Malaysia Institute

2.19

The visit of the Malaysian Prime Minister in April 2005 saw the announcement of the establishment of the Australia–Malaysia Institute (AMI). The AMI comprises an Executive Committee of eight prominent Australians plus an ex-officio senior DFAT officer. Its chairman is Mr Michael Abbott QC, and it is supported by a small secretariat within DFAT.17

2.20

The key objectives of the AMI are to:

2.21

The AMI’s starting annual budget was $300 000 in 2005–06 rising to $400 000 in 2006–07. There are six programmes:

2.22

In 2005–06 the AMI:

 

Private sector interactions

2.23

As with many international trading markets, private-sector businesses with an interest in exporting have established business councils to facilitate international trade and assist their members. The Malaysian market is no exception.

Australia–Malaysia Business Council

2.24

The AMBC was established in 1988 and in 2006 comprises 136 organisations. Of these, 15 are large enterprises with more than 200 employees and/or an annual turnover in excess of $10 million. The Malaysian counterpart, the Malaysia–Australia Business Council (MABC), was also established in the late 1980s.

2.25

AMBC has chapters in New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, and Western Australia with each nominating a representative to a national executive. A National President and Deputy National President are elected annually.

2.26

The objectives of the AMBC are to:

2.27

Trade aspects of the Australia–Malaysia relationship are discussed further in Chapter 4.

 

Organisations and individual interactions

Research and education links

2.28

The Australian Research Council (ARC) has a mission to advance Australia’s research excellence and does this by supporting research which is likely to contribute innovation; brokering partnerships among researchers; and providing policy advice to government on investment in the national research effort.23

2.29

The ARC advised the Committee that while it had no formal research cooperation agreement with any Malaysian research agency, its members had attended the following meetings in Malaysia:

2.30

The ARC had also met with delegations from Malaysia:

2.31

Other institutional links and interactions were noted in DEST’s submission:

2.32

DEST also advised the Committee that in May 2003 there were some 127 formal linkages between Australian universities and Malaysian institutes of higher learning.26

2.33

Interactions at the university level appear to be gaining momentum. Under DEST’s Regional Links Programme, the Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee (AVCC) coordinated the Malaysia Australia Vice-Chancellors Meeting 2006. The meeting involved 14 Malaysian university delegates and 13 Australian Vice-Chancellors or their representatives. Issues discussed were future collaboration and cooperation including ‘staff and student mobility, credit transfer and the recognition of qualifications.’ A further meeting was scheduled for Kuala Lumpur in 2007 to sign a MoU.27

2.34

The States too are engaged with Malaysia in the education area. For example, in April 2005 the South Australian Children, Youth and Women’s Health Services signed a letter of intent with the Malaysian Government to facilitate the further training and collaboration of health and medical specialists in both countries.28

2.35

Education linkages are discussed in greater detail in Chapter 6 and specific examples of science and research collaboration with Malaysia are provided in Chapter 7.

 

Cultural and personal links

2.36

Cultural understanding can be enhanced through a variety of means. There follows some of the examples provided to the Committee.

2.37

At the Commonwealth level, the Department of Communications, IT and the Arts (DCITA) told the Committee about the following recent cultural activities:

2.38

Some state-based institutions have long-standing cultural links with Malaysia. For example, the Western Australian Museum has cultural relations with counterparts in Malaysia in the field of maritime archaeology. Activities have included:

2.39

Malaysia has had a major impact on the sporting life of the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory Government advised the Committee that the National Sports Council of Malaysia was instrumental in establishing the Arafura Games. Malaysian teams had regularly participated in the games and were often the biggest participating delegation. The Northern Territory also participated in the Sukan Malaysia Games in 2002, with likely subsequent participation in 2008.31

2.40

At the local government level, since February 1973 the Adelaide City Council has had a sister city relationship with the city of Georgetown, Penang. Achievements identified on the Adelaide City web site include:

2.41

At the personal level, Australians visiting Malaysia and Malaysians visiting Australia may through their experiences gain an understanding of the culture of the host country. Many Malaysians visiting Australia do so for educational purposes or as tourists. While education and tourism are the subject of later chapters, the Committee received comments on cultural interaction from Malaysian students studying in Sydney.

2.42

A representative from the Malaysian Students Organisation of the University of New South Wales commented that he appreciated the multicultural base within the university and the activities which provided opportunities for interaction with other international students.33 The Vice Chairperson, Malaysian Students Council of Australia, reported that some international students were not as open-minded as Australian students because they tended to stick together more. Australian students, however, were ‘pretty open towards international students.’34

2.43

It was also noted, however, that some Australians were not aware of the diversity of Malaysian society.35

2.44

The witness commented that the reluctance to interact shown by many Malaysian students was a cultural characteristic which could be countered if the ‘Malaysian seniors who are studying here show a good example by mixing with everyone else’.36

2.45

Interestingly, one of the students commented that he chose Sydney which had far fewer Malaysian students than in Melbourne because of the risk in Melbourne of being ‘sucked into a comfort zone and [wasting] your experience here.’ He added that, anecdotally, ‘many Malaysians in Sydney want to stay on in Sydney, whereas many Malaysians in Melbourne just finish and go back home’.37

 

Committee comment

2.46

The Committee considers that the level of interaction between Australia and Malaysia underpins a sound relationship between the two countries. Further links, no doubt, will be generated as the two countries move towards the establishment of an FTA.

2.47

The Committee suggests that developing city-to-city links is a valuable way to promote the Australia-Malaysia relationship. Cities establishing a link must, like Adelaide, be prepared to devote the necessary resources to developing the relationship.

2.48

The Committee believes the provision of educational services to Malaysian students is an excellent way for the creation of people-to-people links. From the evidence presented to it, the Committee believes Malaysian students studying in Australia are receiving a worthwhile experience. Many are prepared to contribute to the experience through willingness to interact with Australian and other international students. The Committee notes that many of Malaysia’s leaders have studied in Australia.38

2.49

Both Australia and Malaysia are striving to increase tourism links, and this provides an excellent opportunity to further strengthen ties. Tourism is discussed in detail in Chapter 5.



Footnotes

1

DFAT, Submission No. 11, p. 76. Back

2

DFAT, Submission No. 11, p. 76. Back

3

DAFF, Submission No. 23, p. 202. Back

4

DFAT, Submission No. 11, p. 76. Back

5

Northern Territory Government, Submission No. 20, pp. 176–7. Back

6 DAFF, Exhibit No. 6, Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Malaysia and the Government of Western Australia on Livestock Development Co-operation. Back
7

South Australian Government, Submission No. 24, p. 220. Back

8

AMBC (SA) Inc, Submission No. 4, p. 18. Back

9 House of Representatives Parliamentary Relations Office, Exhibit No. 5, Table of Outgoing Delegations to Malaysia, and Incoming Delegations from Malaysia. Back
10

DFAT, Submission No. 11, pp. 79–80. Back

11

DAFF, Submission No. 23, p. 203. Back

12

DAFF, Submission No. 23, p. 203. Back

13

DAFF, Submission No. 23, p. 203. Back

14 DEST, Submission No. 14, p. 107. Back
15

Ms Sara Cowan, Transcript4 December 2006, p. 23. Back

16

DCITA, Submission No. 7, p. 52. Back

17

DFAT, Submission No. 11, p. 81.; Mr Paul Grigson, Transcript 9 October 2006, p. 7. Back

18

DFAT,<http://www.dfat.gov.au/ami/about_ami.html>, accessed January 2007. Back

19

DFAT, <http://www.dfat.gov.au/ami/programs_ami.html>, accessed January 2007. Back

20

CSIRO, Submission No. 2, p. 11. Back

21

DFAT, Submission No. 11, p. 81. Back

22

AMBC, Submission No. 1, p. 2. Back

23

ARC, Submission No. 5, p. 23. Back

24

ARC, Submission No. 5, pp. 24–5. Back

25

DEST, Submission No. 14, pp. 116–17. Back

26

DEST, Submission No. 14, p. 107. Back

27

AVCC, Submission No. 12, p. 86. Back

28

Government of South Australia, Submission No. 24, p. 220. Back

29

Mr Mark Taylor, Transcript 16 October 2006, pp. 5, 7. Back

30 Western Australian Minister for Indigenous Affairs; Tourism; Culture and the Arts, Submission No. 19, p. 174. Back
31

Northern Territory Government, Submission No. 20, p. 176. Back

32 <http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/scripts/nc.dll?ADCC:STANDARD::pc=
PC_12,svTextVers=N>, accessed January 2007. Back
33

Mr Danny Tze San Tan, Transcript21 November 2006, p. 2. Back

34

Mr Mohd Saiful Tan, Transcript21 November 2006, p. 5. Back

35

Mr Wai King Yong, Transcript21 November 2006, p. 5. Back

36

Mr Danny Tze San Tan, Transcript21 November 2006, p. 6. Back

37

Mr Danny Tze San Tan, Transcript21 November 2006, p. 9. Back

38

DFAT, Submission No. 22, p. 193. Back


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