LONDON – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday met his United Kingdom (UK) counterpart Keir Starmer and discussed elevating the relations between both countries to a strategic partnership covering all spheres.
“The focus and the fundamentals are of course economics, but also defence and education,” he told reporters after meeting Starmer at No. 10, Downing Street, yesterday.
Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said Malaysian ministers and their UK counterparts will immediately set up teams to try and work together, particularly in the context of not only Malaysia but also Asean.
Malaysia is the current chair of the 10-member Asean bloc.
According to Malaysian officials, both leaders also discussed cooperation in the fields of green energy, artificial intelligence and digitalisation.
“This is the first visit to Europe as Asean chair (and) I took the available opportunity to express Malaysia’s readiness to welcome more investors and form a new economic synergy,” Anwar said.
He added that during the meeting, he also invited Starmer to visit Malaysia.
On Monday, Malaysian High Commissioner to the UK and Northern Ireland Zakri Jaafar said Malaysian products – particularly palm oil – were expected to benefit from tariff-free access in the UK under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade agreement.
He said this was possible because the UK formally joined the CPTPP last December.
Malaysia ratified the CPTPP in October 2024, joining Peru, Japan, Singapore, Chile, New Zealand and Vietnam in doing so.
According to reports here, more than 99% of current UK goods exports to CPTPP member countries will be tariff-free once the deal comes into effect.
The UK is Malaysia’s fourth largest trading partner in Europe, with total trade between them amounting to RM15.30 billion (US$3.34 billion) in the first 11 months of 2024. – January 16, 2025