Tag: Press Release

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 9 February 2023.

The UK’s Permanent Representative to the WTO in Geneva, Ambassador Simon Manley, gave a statement on 8 February 2023 during Malaysia’s 8th WTO Trade Policy Review.

Chair, let me warmly welcome the delegation of Malaysia to Geneva here today, led by our friend, Datuk ISHAM ISHAK, Secretary General of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. It’s great to have you all with us today!

Let me also thank the government of Malaysia and indeed the WTO Secretariat for their Reports. And the Secretary General for his very thorough presentation of Malaysia’s macro-economic policy this morning.

Chair, may I echo your comments to our distinguished Discussant, and very good friend, Ambassador Acarsoy, and offer our condolences to him, and indeed to all our friends at the Turkish Mission, for this appalling humanitarian tragedy which is unrolling before our eyes in both Turkiye and Syria.

As he knows, British search and rescue experts arrived last night in southeast Turkiye and indeed the Union flag flew at half-mast at our Embassy and Consulates across Turkiye yesterday. As a multilateral community, of which we are a part, these tragedies do remind us of the need for us to come together. As the Malaysian national motto says, ‘unity is strength’.

So returning to the business of this review let me start by commending Malaysia’s strong and resilient economic growth, which the Secretary General set out this morning. And of course that growth has been enabled by its openness. I was glad to read in that the World Bank report rates Malaysia as one of the most open economies in the world – a secret of its success in many ways. Malaysia’s aspiration to become a high-income country, by the time of their next TPR in 2028, is already producing positive results under that ambitious Twelfth Malaysia Plan, based on those themes of resetting the economy, strengthening security, wellbeing and advancing sustainability.

As the Secretary General knows, Malaysia is the UK’s second largest trading partner in Southeast Asia – with total trade reaching almost £6bn in the first four quarters to Q3 of 2022 and British exports increasing by just under 18% in the last year. We are also really pleased to have established a UK-Malaysia Joint Committee on Bilateral Trade and Investment Cooperation back in 2020, to promote trade and investment between our two great nations, and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Indo-Pacific region.

That initiative was upgraded to a Ministerial-led Joint Economic Trade Committee just last November. We look forward to continuing to build economic cooperation between our countries under this Committee, as well as more broadly through our new dialogue partner status in ASEAN.

We are also pleased to stand as Malaysia’s ninth largest foreign investor, with a strong corporate footprint in Malaysia with over 200 British companies investing in a wide variety of sectors across the economy. Education is at the heart of our relationship. There are five UK university branch campuses in Malaysia, as well as tens of thousands of young Malaysians attending schools and university in the UK, and we stand ready to support Malaysia’s ambition to become a regional education hub. And let me just mention in that respect, the now very famous Syabira Yusoff, a young Malaysian who came to study in the UK for a PhD and who las year achieved great fame in our country for winning the ‘Great British Bake-Off’.

We are also delighted that Malaysia has invested so significantly into the UK, with inward investments in 2020 valued at £780 million, representing an increase of almost 230% from the year before.

And, of course, our flourishing bilateral ties also extend here to Geneva. We are grateful for Malaysia’s active participation and engagement in the Investment Facilitation for Development, MSME and E-commerce Joint Initiatives. Through these initiatives, we share a common commitment to delivering for global businesses and global consumers. In this context, let me join others in encouraging Malaysia to consider joining the initiative on Services Domestic Regulation, where businesses, particularly in the developing world, are set to benefit by up to $150bn globally per year.

More broadly, our governments are working together on critical modern issues such as climate and forced labour. Indeed, my UN Deputy Permanent Representative is in Kuala Lumpur this week discussing human rights issues, among others, with our Malaysian partners.

Net-zero planning and green energy are shared priority issues for the UK and Malaysia on green trade, as highlighted by the Secretary General’s comments this morning. Indeed we in the UK established our own net-zero and energy department just yesterday. We signed the UK-Malaysia Climate Partnership MoU in July 2022, supporting greater technical assistance and knowledge sharing, and we will continue to work with government departments and agencies at all levels in support of those shared climate goals.

On forced labour, we really welcome Malaysia’s ratification of the ILO’s Forced Labour Convention last year and remain committed to working together to deliver our shared goal of ending modern slavery and coercive labour practices. We continue to support Malaysia’s work to deliver its National Action Plan through exchange of expertise and engagement across government, civil society and business.

Also commendable is Malaysia’s engagement in Trade & Gender, an issue very dear to the heart of my Minister, as Minister for both Business and Trade and Equalities, with clear efforts being made in Malaysia’s 2022 budget for women-led MSMEs and a specific commitment in the Twelfth Malaysia Plan to ensure further opportunities for female entrepreneurs and access to decision-making roles.

But, of course, there is always more we can do to strengthen our bilateral relationship.

In our Advance Written Questions, the UK sought to understand more about Malaysia’s trade policies and practices regarding government procurement, government-linked companies and tendering provisions, sustainable manufacturing practices, and excise duties.

We particularly encourage Malaysia to continue opening its legal services sector, including business services, to competition and to investment and to view this, as we do, as a realisable economic benefit. The opening of legal services will, in our view, support Malaysian corporations that are seeking to globalise and require specialist legal advice in Malaysia, and should promote the development of Malaysia into a legal hub within ASEAN.

Chair, we are grateful to Malaysia for their written responses and look forward to continuing to work together to address these important issues. And we are grateful to the whole team from Kuala Lumpur for being here with us today, and we wish Malaysia a successful Trade Policy Review and continuing success in progressing their Twelfth Malaysia Plan, with the UK, I hope, as a close partner too.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 8 February 2023.

The UK will provide vital items such as tents and blankets to help survivors cope with the freezing conditions, as part of its immediate response to the crisis.

• immediate extra support will help save lives and prevent suffering
• package to include thousands of tents, blankets and hygiene kits
• world-class UK surgical team and equipment will help address urgent medical needs
• 77 strong UK search and rescue team already on the ground helping to find survivors

The UK government is today (Wednesday 8 February) announcing further support to Turkey and Syria following the devastating earthquakes. The UK will provide vital items such as tents and blankets to help survivors cope with the freezing conditions, as part of its immediate response to the crisis. The equipment being urgently deployed from the UK’s stockpile will meet the needs of up to 15,000 people.

The UK is also providing a world-class team of UK medics with surgical capabilities and equipment to provide vital emergency treatment.

The announcement comes in the critical 72 hours following the first earthquake. The support will be used to urgently provide life saving interventions to those who need it most in the region as temperatures plummet.

The UK is coordinating closely with the Turkish government and United Nations (UN) in Syria to ensure our support meets the needs on the ground and that we can stay responsive to emerging needs in the coming days.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

The UK is sending life saving kit to Turkey and Syria. This will include vital medical expertise and hygiene kits and also tents and blankets to help people keep warm and sheltered in the terrible freezing conditions they are having to endure on top of the devastation of the earthquakes.

Our priority is to ensure life saving assistance is given to those most in need, coordinated with the Turkish government, UN and international partners.

The UK is prioritising what the Turkish government and UN are asking for. The additional support will save lives by bringing world-class UK expertise and equipment to the region.

This £8 million of additional support comes after a team of 77 UK search and rescue specialists, equipment and four search dogs arrived in Gaziantep yesterday to begin their life saving operations.

Their specialist skills and state-of-the-art heavy duty equipment will allow the UK team to cut their way into buildings and locate survivors in the rubble during this vital time.

The government remains in contact with British humanitarian workers in the affected areas, and we stand ready to assist any British nationals affected.